


The Course Of True Love

by ProstheticLoVe



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Eventual Romance, F/M, Humor, Misunderstandings, Past Relationship(s), References to Shakespeare, Shakespeare Quotations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-22 11:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 51,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4834007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProstheticLoVe/pseuds/ProstheticLoVe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver Queen is in love with Felicity Smoak, who is roommates with Laurel Lance, who isn’t sure if she is still in love with Oliver, who happens to be friends with Tommy Merlyn, who is in love with Laurel. Tommy is trying to woo Laurel after their one night together, but Oliver thinks he’s into Felicity due to a misunderstanding. And poor Felicity is just trying to be a good friend and pretend she isn’t in love with Oliver Queen.  College is hard. </p><p>A story of how assuming and miscommunication leads two couples into a Shakespearean type comedy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shakespeare For Beginners

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: No one belongs to me.

_“And yet, to say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays.”_

_A Midsummer Nights Dream By William Shakespeare_

 

Chapter 1 Shakespeare For Beginners 

 

The first thing Oliver Queen noticed on his first day of classes at the Great Yale University – it was the second week for everyone else in the class, he just enjoyed being fashionably late – was the girl chewing on a red pen.

She was sitting in the fifth row from the top of the lecture hall right next to the aisle and she seemed to be taking notes on a notebook _and_ a laptop.

Later, he’d wonder what drew him to her, whether it was the oddness of her note taking in two different ways, or was it the fact that seeing her lips wrapped around a red pen was the first thing to get his heart pounding in longer than he cared to admit.

The way she moved the pen in between her lips was the most sensual motion he had seen in a _very_ long time, and that was saying something, since he usually went home with multiple girls on a weekly basis.

As he watched her suck on the end of the pen his mind wandered through every blowjob he’d ever had – or really the ones he could remember – and he knew without really being able to explain it that _every_ one of those would dim in comparison to her’s.

His mind went back to that previous weekend and how he had taken two different brunettes home – one for Friday and one for Saturday – and they both had the same come hither look, a look he’d seen on many woman. And he was willing to bet Red Pen Blondie’s come hither look would be just as titillating as the mind-blowing blowjob his mind had conjured up.

He gulped when he saw her pause and look up at the teacher who seemed to have said something that probably warranted his attention.

He honestly had no idea what was going on in this class. He wasn’t even sure what the class was, he kept having to look at the syllabus the girl to his left had given him with a flirty flip of her hair and batting of her fake eyelashes. He grinned managing to get out what had been going on in the class the previous week from her and then had attempted to ignore her the rest of class once his eyes landed on the blonde with the red pen.

He looked down at the syllabus and spotted ECON102: Principles of Macroeconomics. Shit, why was he taking this? He didn’t even _know_ what Macroeconomics was. He looked up from the syllabus just in time for the professor to announce their dismissal.

“Hey! You’re Oliver Queen, right?” the girl who had given him the syllabus asked.

 He flashed her a charming smile and let his eyes roamed her body. He’d give her a six.

“Yeah.” He replied grabbing the one notebook he’d brought to class and the pen he’d stuck in the spiral part of it.

“Do you want to be in my study group? We meet Thursdays before going out.” She flirted.

 He frowned, “we need to be in a study group?”

 “Well, yeah. The teacher told us to _hook up_ with some people and then give him your names so that he can know who to put us with for projects and stuff. So are you in?” she asked taking a step toward him.

He blinked and looked across the aisle to see the blonde carefully packing her things up before getting out of her seat and heading toward the door. He grinned as a plan began to form in his head and instead of answering Syllabus Girl he headed toward the door to corner Red Pen Blondie.

“Hey!” Oliver called out putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

She immediately stiffened and whirled around to face him suspicion lurking in her bright blue eyes. He felt the air leave his lungs as his eyes came to rest on her face.

He didn’t generally go for the nerdy look, but she was rocking it hard. He even got a Naughty Librarian impression from her and his mind automatically went to her sitting on a desk holding a rule and threatening to spank him. He shook his head mentally chiding himself that a Naughty Librarian would definitely spank him with a large tomb-like book, like the Bible or Harry Potter Number Five or something.

Her hair was in a tight, high ponytail, the color was like of one of the lemon squares Raisa used to make, the ones that had the browned edges and always tasted divine. The curls flowed down her back and he desired to reach out and touch the bouncy ringlets. He bet they smelled citrusy and felt like silk.

There was a flush already spreading on her cheeks and he couldn’t help his body’s reaction to the pleasant crimson creeping onto her face. He wondered how far down that blush went and he found himself eager to find out. Her eyes behind the square glasses were a bright cerulean that caused an odd tightening in his stomach, one he had never experienced before. He brushed the feeling away and tried not to concentrate on her ruby colored bow-shaped lips.

“May I help you?” she asked frowning when he didn’t say anything.

Dear God, could she ever. There was a tightening in his pants and he seriously needed a hand – or a mouth – to help him out.

 “I was wondering if you wanted to be study buddies.” He said giving her the Oliver Queen Charming Grin that worked on all the girls.

“Um…why?” she asked scrunching her nose up and looking absolutely adorable. And he didn’t usually use the word adorable to describe girls—hot, sexy, gorgeous, yes. Not adorable. But she really was. She had a light and innocence he hadn’t seen in quite sometime, maybe even ever.

 “Well, you seem like you know what’s going on in the class and I’m already pretty lost.” He said giving her his best innocent look.

Her frown deepened and she looked him over in unease. “I’m not doing your work for you.” She blurted out.

“I don’t want you to do my homework. I want to work together. You know, be partners. Or something.” He said shrugging a little.

She bit her lip and he felt the sudden urge to lean forward to tug that precious lip free. If there were going to be any biting of lips they would be from _his_ teeth on _her_ lips.

But the affect of watching her nibble on her lip was a bigger turn-on than he’d ever thought it would be. He’d seen girls bite their lips thousands of times, but there was something distinctly naughty when she did it. It really added to the Naughty Librarian look that she had going on.

“I don’t even know you! Why do you want to work with me, anyway? I mean, there are, like a hundred students in our class and I’m sure one of the girls would be honored to work with you. Especially since you look very nice. As in _nice-nice._ Not like _attractive_ - _nice_. You look like a _nice_ guy. The girls would be _very_ honored to work with someone so… _nice_. Not that you only work with girls, I’m sure you aren’t sexist. Guys work too, not that you’re into guys or anything. You don’t seem gay, not that there is a way to _seem_ _gay_. Anyway! My point is you seem like you could get help from anyone! I mean, not like you look stupid or anything. You look very capable. In school, I mean. Not…anywhere else.” She said her cheeks reddening a little more.

He smirked at her and watched as she shifted uncomfortably before him. He had never heard anyone talk so much in his life. And it was the most enduring thing he had ever heard. Between the rambling and the blushes he found himself wanting to hear her speak again.

“I’m Oliver Queen.” He said holding a hand out to her.

He waited for the inevitable reaction. The fawning and swooning when girls found out his name. He waited for the gasp of shock, the little giggle, and the flirty eyes than landed on him. He waited for the inevitable hungry look that overcame their features, whether it was for money or for lust he never really cared. He usually came out the winner anyway.

He continued to wait for her reaction, but it never seemed to come. A feeling of uncertainty washed over him and he watched her carefully waiting to see recognition was over her features, but nothing came.

Instead she blinked, crinkled her brow, and tilted her head as if she were seeing straight through him to the rotten core beneath the bravado he put on.

“Huh.” She responded taking a step back.

“And what’s your name?” he asked taking a step forward.

 “You know, you look kind of familiar…” she trailed off ignoring his request for her name.

“You’ve heard of me?” He tried to make it sound nonchalant and like a statement, but it came out more as a question.

She shrugged disinterestedly and turned to walk back to the way she was headed.

“Wait! What about your name?” he yelled trying to ignore the _microscopic_ part of him that was hurt by her not caring about _his_ name. He certainly cared about _her_ name.

He knew he was being self-centered thinking every person he came into contact with knew him, but it had been awhile since he’d come across someone who _didn’t_ swoon over his name, or you know him in general.

She glanced back over her shoulder and gave him a playful smile. “It means intense happiness.” She called back to him.

He was surprised at the grin that spread across his lips. It had been awhile since anyone had challenged him. It was definitely refreshing and he was definitely into the challenge. Making Red Pen Blondie his study buddy and hopefully something more would be his next mission. His mind was already thinking of other things her lips could wrap around.

_Game on Red Pen Blondie._

 

* * *

 

 

Felicity Smoak got back to the suite apartment she shared with three other girls after her run in with the guy from her Macro class.

She had roomed with Laurel Lance the previous year when Laurel was a freshman, but the other two girls Nyssa al Ghul and Melinda Sanchez she had only lived with since they moved in two weeks ago.

Laurel and her had gotten along fine the year previously, and they figured why mess with a good thing. She and Laurel were closer than they had been the previous year, especially after Laurel had opened up to Felicity about how she had found her boyfriend fucking her sister over the summer. They had spent a whole night drinking two bottles of wine and commiserating about family letting you down. God, knew Felicity had a whole ton of experience with that when it came to her mother. And now sadly enough Laurel did too.

Nyssa was a good roommate so far. She was foreign and seemed nice enough, although Felicity found it odd that she didn’t ever smile, but maybe it was a cultural thing. Nyssa was also a bit of a neat-freak and the one and only fight that had occurred –so far – was between her and Laurel about the state of the living room. Laurel wasn’t the neatest person and had a tendency to throw her shoes in the middle of the room when she came home. Felicity didn’t mind, since she was used to it, but Nyssa claimed to almost having broken her neck. So fighting commenced.

Melinda on the other hand was a bit of a weirdo. And that was saying something since Felicity was saying it and she tried not to call people names because of her school experience. She was known as Freaky-Felicity throughout school and calling anyone something derogatory was just something she tried not to do, unless they were being a jerk of course.

Melinda hadn’t talked the entire first week they moved in, not when any of the three other girls had tried to talk to her or when they asked her opinion on decorating or furniture. Also Melinda stayed in her room most of the time. The first time she had opened her mouth was to tell them that she had taken an abnormally large dump in the bathroom and it was clogged. Laurel had insisted on calling the janitor, Nyssa had demanded Melinda clean up the mess, and Felicity had baked cupcakes to try and keep the peace.

Needless to say so far the living situation had been weird.

Add on the fact that she had been virtually harassed by some odd guy in her Macro class she was having a more than bizarre start to her third year at Yale than she’d ever had in the last two.

The guy though in his defense hadn’t been harassing her. And she’d be lying if she didn’t find him the _tiniest_ bit attractive. Attractive was an understatement though. He was downright _ridiculously_ hot. Hot couldn’t even cover it. He was just gorgeous, like some kind of God. A Sex-God probably. He was one of those guys that you meet and couldn’t believe they were real. Or talking to you.

In her case talking to her. And believing he was real, but mostly talking to her.

She’d seen Laurel talk to guys that looked like Odd Macro Guy. But she was Nerdy Felicity, not Gorgeous Laurel. So if a hot – mega delicious gorgeous incredibly hot – guy was talking to her then he probably wanted something. In this case a guaranteed A in Macroeconomics.

Although if today’s class was any indication the class would be easy as ever and she didn’t really understand how anyone could get anything below an A in the class. The only reason she was taking it was because she needed to make sure her credits were at least fourteen to guarantee her financial aid, an elective, and she figured knowing economics would be helpful. She’d taken Micro last semester so Macro was the obvious choice. Plus sometimes it was nice to use another part of her brain besides all the computer science stuff she was learning because of her major.

Anyway, the guy was hot and probably gunning to use her brain to pass the class, but the name…the name rang a bell for her and for some reason she couldn’t place it.

What had surprised her the most about the encounter was how she actually got words out instead of garbling a response and babbling. Well, okay she had babbled once.

If she had met the guy – Oliver Queen – last year before losing her virginity to Cooper she probably wouldn’t even have been able to form words, but Thank God for shitty cheating boyfriends. At least they were good to help talk to hot guys in her Big Girls Words, instead of rambling.

“Hey Felicity!” Laurel greeted when she came through the door.

Felicity smiled and moved toward the couch to collapse beside the brunette.

“How was Macro?” Laurel asked concentrating on some notes she was organizing in a binder.

“Good.” Felicity said shortly her mind still on the guy from her class.

Laurel nodded and continued organizing her binder full of notes when one of the pieces of paper ripped off the ring and she let out a groan.

“Dammit. Now I have to redo this whole page of notes.” Laurel grumbled.

“You could just type them up.” Felicity pointed out.

She shot the blonde a glare and Felicity put her hands up in surrender.

“Can you grab my loose leaf in my room? It’s on my desk.” Laurel asked.

Felicity sighed playfully and got up from the couch to head toward Laurel’s room. She walked straight over to the desk, which was covered in various items ranging from hair ties to pictures in frames and folders of different subjects to books for pleasure. As she grabbed some spare pieces of paper her eyes landed on the pictures on Laurel’s desk. There used to be three, but after the drama from the summer Laurel had ceremoniously burned the picture of her and Sara, her sister.

Now there were only two left. One was of her and Felicity at last year’s the end of the year dorm party, and a picture of Laurel, Tommy, Sara, and another guy at a ski resort.

Felicity must have seen the picture a thousand times, but as she stared down at it she realized where she had heard the name Oliver Queen before. Oliver and Laurel had dated. And to Felicity’s knowledge Laurel was still very much in love with Oliver Queen. Looking back through the sessions of crying and the talks over the phone during most of the summer Felicity had no idea how she could’ve missed such a big detail, but then again Laurel had also referred to Oliver as That Fucking Douchebag or other colorful names.

Felicity felt an odd sensation twist in her stomach and it took her a minute to realize that it was guilt. Because despite the fact that she knew Oliver probably would’ve just used her for her brain, she would’ve said yes to being study buddies. Now, she definitely couldn’t. Hoes before bros and all that—or is it Bros before Hoes for girls…anyway it’s all of that Girl-Power stuff.

She hurried out of Laurel’s room with the loose leaf clutched in her hand her mind running a mile a minute as she recalled all of Laurel’s complaints about her boyfriend.

If Felicity recalled correctly the two of them had met in high school and had dated on and off throughout that time. Then Laurel had left for Yale and Oliver had headed to Harvard and then Brown – he’d gotten kicked out of both – they had decided to get back together for the upteenth time, but at the beginning of the summer right as she came home from the east coast she had walked in on her sister and Oliver doing the nasty in the living room.

Laurel had spent a majority of the summer ignoring both Oliver and Sara and complaining about the both of them to Felicity on the phone. Felicity figured that, since she felt betrayed by the two closest people in her life she allowed her to wallow all summer, but now that they were back at Yale she hoped that Laurel could move on. Laurel deserved someone who was kind to her and didn’t cheat on her.            

Someone like…Tommy. Tommy, who had revealed his crush to Felicity the semester before when they had gone out and drank a little too much, since then Felicity had been attempting to get Laurel and Tommy together to now avail whatsoever.

_The course of True Love never did run smooth._

“What took you so long?” Laurel asked curiously.

“Nothing.” Felicity said quickly.

Laurel cast her a strange look then shoved the loose-leaf paper into the binder writing a little reminder to copy her notes.

“Hey…I was just wondering…do you know if…Oliver Queen goes here?” Felicity blurted out.

Laurel blinked and looked over at her in surprise. Felicity watched in regret as a cloud of darkness drifted over her. “He does. Tommy told me.” Laurel responded darkly.

“That sucks.” Felicity said trying not to think of his mischievous blue eyes.

 “Yeah…but…I mean, maybe it’s good. Maybe I’ll…have closure or something.” Laurel said quietly.

“Closure is good.”

“I mean, I can’t hate Sara forever and Oliver and I were friends first but…I guess it’s the principle of the matter. She’s my sister and Oliver is, well the love of my life.” Laurel said petulantly.

“Love of your life? Really Laurel? You’re 20! No one meets their True Love at 15.” Felicity said snorting.

 Laurel through her an indignant look, “You’re 18 and all last year you claimed Cooper was the one! And besides I never said he was my True Love. I said Love Of My Life. There’s a difference.”

Felicity frowned, “what? How? Soulmate, True Love, The One, Love Of Your Life, its all the same thing!”

“And that my friend, is why you aren’t an English major.” Laurel said getting off the couch and packing her bag up for her afternoon classes.

“You’re a poly-sci major!” Felicity yelled after her as she disappeared out the door. She heard Laurel’s echoing laugh and she huffed leaning back against the couch to think further about Oliver Queen before she had to be at work.

 

* * *

 

 

Tommy Merlyn was already tired of school and it was only the second week. The only silver-lining of his schedule this year was that Laurel was in his ENG 256: Shakespeare class. He had to take it because…well he wasn’t really sure, but Laurel was in it and he was one of very few straight men in the class so he didn’t mind. Plus, you know, Laurel.

He had wanted this year to be _the_ year they get together. He had been planning all summer, since their rendezvous at the end of the year dorm party last year. It was hands down one of the best nights of his life, but when he had gone to tell Laurel that he loved her she had been on the phone with Oliver – his best friend who he really couldn’t hate because of that fact – who was begging her to get back together.

 She relented and then low and behold the Gods were smiling down on Tommy when she called him yelling to reveal what his best friend had done. Initially he was a little nervous that Laurel would blame him for the situation, since he and Oliver were best friends, but when she called him a week later after finding her sister and Oliver together he knew he had nothing to fear.

Now, all he had to do was show Laurel he wasn’t Oliver and hopefully she would realize that she was just as in love with him as he was with her.

The only problem of course was the fact his friend was now at school with them at Yale, which kind of put a damper in his plans, since generally Oliver cheated on Laurel, she lashed out, and then they got back together. It was a fucked up merry-go-round and Tommy was ready for both of them to get off of it. He loved them both, obviously in different ways, and he thought they both deserved someone better than what they were offering each other. Preferably Oliver would end up with some leggy blonde model and Laurel with him.

Now, this year he had _plans_ and he was ready to execute them.

“Hey man.” Oliver said startling Tommy out of his thoughts.

Tommy looked up from _A Midsummer Night’s Dream,_ the first Shakespeare play they were reading in class and over at Oliver who slid into the chair beside him.

Tommy had found a secluded area in the library, but he knew once Oliver sat down he wasn’t going to get beyond the ten pages he’d attempted to read. Seriously, none of the words made sense. He made a mental note to pick up the movie…or maybe ask Laurel for a translation. If he was lucky he wondered if he could convince her to act it out for him or with him. Whatever.

 “What’s up?” Tommy asked putting the book back in his bag.

Oliver shrugged playing with the edges of his spiral notebook.

 “Do you have any classes the rest of the day?” Oliver asked sounding a lot more somber than his usual upbeat self.

“I have one tonight, but that’s it.” Tommy said strategically leaving out the part where he had the class with Laurel, and that he really should read up to Act III, like the syllabus said. He scoffed internally wondering when he had became so studious that he _followed_ the _syllabus_.

Maybe when he had decided to pursue Laurel seriously and he wanted to show her he wasn’t just a rich partying playboy.

“Why are you in the library?” Oliver asked suddenly as if he just realized where they were.

Tommy smirked, “Librarian is hot.”

Oliver turned to look at her and something darkened in his eyes. Tommy’s smirk widened as he watched his friend take in the petite red head behind the counter. That wasn’t the real reason, but Tommy didn’t want Oliver to know he actually was _studying_ and not checking the red head out, although when he got bored…let’s say his eyes wandered.

“You wanna get out of here?” Oliver asked suddenly turning to him.

Tommy nodded, moved away from the table and swung his bag across his shoulder. “I know a good coffee shop.” He said casually.

Oliver grunted in reply and they walked out of the library.            

Tommy kept shooting him confused looks, not sure what was going on with his friend. Oliver wasn’t usually a quiet guy. He was talkative, joking around, and animated, but this Oliver seemed distant and closed off. Tommy frowned wondering what had happened since that morning when they had last seen each other.

“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked as they headed across campus.

 “What do you mean?” Oliver asked shooting him a confused look.

“You’re all…weird. Did you not get that hot blonde’s number you had been talking about last night or something?” Tommy inquired.

Oliver frowned and slowed his steps down. “What hot blonde?”

“The one from the club. You said you recognized her from school or something. You said her name was Jessa or Jessica or something.”

Oliver’s frown deepened and he all but came to a stop. “Jessica doesn’t mean intense happiness.”

“What?” Tommy asked confused.

“Nothing…just. This girl in my Macro class.”

Tommy laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “There’s _always_ a girl.”

“No, this one’s different. She’s…just…I don’t know.”

“Is she another girl to use to make Laurel want to get back with you?” Tommy asked unable to keep the hardness out of his tone.

“What? No! I don’t…I mean, I think Laurel and I are done. For real this time. I fucked up pretty bad.” Oliver muttered.

Tommy chuckled, “yeah you kinda did. She talked about you all summer though. Although not in the way you’d want to be talked about.”

“What did she say?” Oliver asked curiously.

Tommy hesitated and then sighed. “Man, you don’t really wanna…know. You might just want to let her cool off for awhile. Find some other girls to fill your time. Yale has a nice selection of them. Try that Jessa girl or something.”

“I don’t remember a Jessa.”

“She’s the girl—“

 “I don’t really care. Listen, I met this girl in my Macro class and she’s just…she didn’t know who I was.” Oliver said indignantly.

Tommy laughed loudly amused by the disgruntled look on Oliver’s face.

“It’s not funny! She just…she was chewing on this red pen and—“

 “Do you know what kind of red pen it was too? Was it a Bic or a really nice—“

“Shut it, Tommy!” Oliver snapped.

 “I’m just saying, man. You remember the color of the pen? I don’t even remember the faces of most of the girls I sleep with! How do you remember the pen color?”

“She was different.”

“Because she didn’t know who you were?”

“No because…just because. She rambled too and she didn’t seem impressed by me _at all._ I asked her to be study buddies. She didn’t seem too into the idea.”

Tommy shrugged as they neared the coffee shop. “What’s her name?”

“That’s another thing she didn’t even tell me.”

“Then I’d just let it go. What’s the point in chasing some girl when you have a bunch throwing themselves at you.” Tommy said logically, but deep inside he didn’t fully mean his words. After all he was already chasing Laurel and there were plenty of girls throwing themselves at him left and right. He just didn’t care since none of them were the one he wanted.

 “I guess, but still. I want to get to know her. She seems…I don’t know, special or something. She told me the _meaning_ of her name, like I had to work to find out what it was.” Oliver said opening the door to the café.

 “What is it?” Tommy asked ducking inside and looking around the place.

 “It’s—“

“Felicity! Hey!” Tommy said waving at someone behind the counter. There was a wet splat and Tommy tried to contain the laughter that bubbled to the surface. He watched as Felicity blushed and attempted to clean up the spill she had made.

Tommy turned to Oliver to say something, but he found him staring at Felicity a strange look on his face. He brushed off Oliver’s weird behavior, just as he had done since he showed up in the library and then walked over to the counter to order his drink. He’d really need it if he was going to get through his night class with Laurel. He decided to grab a double chocolate caramel muffin for her too knowing they were her favorite.

 

* * *

 

 

Oliver stared at Tommy in shock at knowing Red Pen Blondie. He slowly turned to the counter to see Felicity standing and holding a jug of milk pouring it into a plastic cup. He watched as she fumbled then dropped the cup at Tommy’s greeting and then she turned about fifty shades of red. He felt an odd pull in the pit of his stomach, but he ignored it in favor of watching Tommy smile at _his_ Red Pen Blondie.

Wait, she wasn’t exactly his…but he hoped that soon enough she’d be.

Where did Tommy even know her from anyway? Was she Tommy’s new girl? The one he had been trying to impress the last two weeks?

Oliver knew something weird had been going on with Tommy. Since they had started school the week before he had almost done nothing except study during the week and when they went out on the weekends he barely even talked to other girls. Was Felicity Tommy’s little secret? And how come Tommy hadn’t told him about her?

He continued to watch Felicity and Tommy talk animatedly until he couldn’t take being left out of the loop any longer.

 “So how do you two know each other?” Oliver asked breaking into some ridiculous tale Tommy was telling her.

Felicity looked away from Tommy and stared at Oliver in surprise as if she hadn’t even _seen_ him standing there. He had been ignored now _twice_ by this girl. Once, when she didn’t even acknowledge his name and now for his best friend, whose hand he just noticed was resting on Felicity’s forearm.

“Oh! Macro Guy, I’m sorry I didn’t notice you there!” she said in such sincere shock he actually genuinely believed she had bypassed him for Tommy. Then her eyes widened as if she just realized what she had said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to call you _Macro Guy_ , that’s just what I call you in my head…not that I think about you or anything. Because I don’t. Think of you I mean. That would be weird.” She blushed furiously and turned back to Tommy.

He watched her ramble and something in him warmed at the idea of her thinking about him. He felt torn between wanting to call her out on thinking about him and wanting to divert her attention away from Tommy. He had always hated being ignored.

He shook his head slightly mentally chiding himself to play it cool and when he tuned back into the conversation he heard her ask Tommy to continue his story. He got two more words out before Oliver spoke again.

“I figured out your name.” Oliver said interrupting Tommy who looked between them in barely concealed amusement.

“Did Tommy tell you?” she asked raising an eyebrow at him.

Oliver leaned against the counter and stared her right in the eye. “No he didn’t, _Felicity_. I looked it up all on my own.”

 She smirked and glanced over at Tommy. “Do you want a gold star?” she asked playfully.

Oliver scowled and opened his mouth to ask _again_ how they knew each other when Felicity began to speak.

 “Tommy and I met in Microeconomics last semester. I helped him pass.” She said answering his first question.

 “She more than helped me. She saved my ass.” Tommy said smiling over at her.

She smiled back bashfully and shrugged her shoulders. “I couldn’t resist that smile.”

Tommy laughed and the rapidly growing tightening in Oliver’s stomach washed over him in an emotion he had never felt before. The tightening had quadrupled until he felt an odd queasiness in his stomach. He frowned and tried to swallow the feeling down, but as Tommy and Felicity continued to talk he realized that the feeling was just gaining momentum, like a snowball rolling down Mount Everest. He gritted his teeth and tried to calm the twisted feeling in his gut, but all he could concentrate on was Tommy’s hand on Felicity’s arm and the inside jokes and laughter the two were sharing.

Suddenly Tommy pulled away and announced he had to leave. He watched his best friend take a white take out bag with some treat in it from Felicity.

Oliver tried to ignore the blood rushing in his ears as their fingers touched briefly when she handed the bag over. The twisted feeling in his stomach was at an all time high and their brief encounter seemed to heighten it even more. It was like a monster struggling to free itself from the confines of his chest.

Tommy said ‘goodbye’ to Felicity and then Oliver before heading out of the café. As Tommy left so did the odd feeling in his gut and suddenly he found himself alone with Felicity. He breathed a long sigh and the feeling inside him seemed to evaporate until he was left with a warm fuzziness in his stomach. It was strange, like fluttering butterflies mixed with nerves he only got when he was faced with some situation he wasn’t familiar with. But that was ridiculous because all he was doing was talking to some girl – some girl who didn’t seem to care about his social status at all or the fact that he was _Oliver Queen_ – and that was pretty normal.

She stared at him for a moment before moving down the counter to go fumble with some containers.

“So you never answered my question from earlier about being study buddies.” He said moving down the counter to stand in front of her.

 She glanced up at him and sighed.

“You’re ex-girlfriend is my roommate.” She said giving him a hard look.

His heart sank at that declaration and he wondered whether she would overlook that or side with whatever girlfriend she knew. He had no idea who it could be he had heard a few of them were in New Haven.

 “Who?”

“Laurel.”

His heart hit rock bottom and he tried to fight off the guilty and regretful feeling he associated with Laurel.

“You know Laurel.” He commented nodding slowly and trying to figure out some way to talk her out of whatever Girl-Power morals she had.

“Yeah, so…I don’t think being study buddies would go over well with her.” She said giving him compassionless look. He found he wasn’t very fond of the expression even if it was on her. He didn’t like the hardness in her eyes. She should be sunny and light, not prickly and dark.

“Well…” he said trailing off and trying to come up with some reason she should still have him as a study buddy.

Her hard look changed to one of disappointment and she sighed heavily, “look, I know what you did. She spent most of the summer crying to me about it. She still loves you and I don’t…I don’t want to get in between whatever True Love bullshit you two have together.”

“True Love bullshit?” he asked smirking.

 Although inside he felt sudden anguish at the fact she knew about what he had done. Yes, after it happened he felt guilty, mildly guilty really, but still guilty. He couldn’t erase that stunned look on Laurel’s face when she came home from the east coast, but he didn’t necessarily regret his tryst with Sara. Sara was fun. And flexible. How could he regret it?

But seeing and hearing those words off Felicity’s tongue…well he felt the unfamiliar feelings of regret and a wave of despair crash over him at the look of disappointment in her eyes at his actions. Not even the stunned look on Laurel’s face had haunted him, but he knew without a doubt the look in Felicity’s eyes definitely would.

 It wasn’t even that she was judging him; it was the fact that she looked personally offended by his actions, like she saw enough good in him that him hurting anyone so monumentally was…impossible. Or maybe it was the disbelief that someone could do that to another human being that really tugged at him.

His stomach flipped at the look in her eyes and he genuinely and deeply regretted sex with Sara and hurting Laurel. It was weird and he wanted to wipe the feelings away, but they were there even if he crushed them down deep inside.

Suddenly she rolled her eyes and gave him a wooden look as if she could sense his avoidance of his feelings.

“Laurel deserves…what you did…” she trailed off and shook her head.

“Listen, I just need to make sure I pass Macro and since you helped Tommy out…maybe you could help me too.” He said deciding that he might as well be point blank about the issue. He had previously wanted to get into her pants, but he knew that if she knew what had happened over the summer between the three of them then she was probably not going to want to get down and dirty with him. Although he really wanted to, especially after having another daydream about her when he saw the librarian when he went to find Tommy.

He might as well just become study buddies with her so he could at least get his grades up enough to stay at Yale for more than a semester. If he couldn’t bang her, he might as well use her for something good.

She frowned and looked away from him down at the containers she was still holding.

 “I don’t know…” she said chewing on her lip.

The same spasm of desire when she tugged her lip with her teeth ripped through him and he clenched his hands so as not to move forward and press a kiss to those bright plump lips.

 “Maybe.” She said finally giving him a small smile.

His eyebrows raised in surprise and he actually smiled for what felt like the first time in days.

 “Really?” he asked surprised.

She shrugged trying to act nonchalant, but he could see through the forced façade. “I need to ask Laurel first.” She admitted and again his heart sank.

He knew without a doubt that Laurel would most definitely tell her to tell him to go fuck himself. He winced inwardly at the fact that he would probably have to end up joining Syllabus Girl’s group and risking getting kicked out of Yale too.

He watched as she shifted uncomfortable before him and then looked toward the cash register where a girl was looking at her in annoyance.

“I have to go.” She said nodding at the customer.

He resisted telling the customer to fuck off and nodded giving her one last charming grin before heading toward the door. Except he couldn’t go without knowing one last thing.

“Are you into Tommy?” he asked trying to divert her attention back to him as she attempted to make a Chai latte.

 She glanced over at him distractedly, “Yes, of course. He’s my friend.”

Oliver felt his stomach drop at her assertion and he for a split second wanted to tell her all of the awful things Tommy had done—although to be far he had done some pretty bad things too. Laurel and Sara case and point.

He opened his mouth to respond, but instead turned away, his mind working a mile a minute to understand how a sweet girl like Felicity could see anything in his playboy best friend. He scowled as an unwanted image of them getting sweaty and naked on a desk filled his thoughts.

The desk _he_ was supposed to get her sweaty and naked on, but now…She seemed to _like_ Tommy. For whatever reason. Even though Tommy was his best friend Oliver knew he wasn’t the best boyfriend. It wasn’t like Tommy would stay loyal anyway…Tommy was just like him and he had never been loyal to any girlfriend. Like ever. He was definitely not someone Felicity deserved, although he didn’t know her as well as he wished he did so how would he know what she did and didn’t deserve. He didn’t even know why he cared. He had only just met her literally, like six hours earlier. She was just some nerdy blonde he was hoping to utilize so he could pass Macro and stay at a school for longer than a semester.

His scowled deepened as the image of Felicity’s disapproving look infiltrated his mind when she mentioned what he had done to Laurel. He tried to shake it away, but it was still there and then the image of her and Tommy played again in his mind he decided that he seriously needed to get laid.

Like he needed to get laid yesterday.

And drunk.

He needed to get drunk too.

So he could wash away the unwanted images of Tommy and Felicity and ignore the weird sensations in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t know why he cared about Felicity anyway or why he had these weird feelings about seeing her and Tommy together. But if there was one thing he had learned today it was that he didn’t like the idea of Tommy and Felicity together. Not one bit.


	2. Exposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, kudoing, bookmarking, and commenting on the story! You guys are awesome! I hope you like the next chapter! I know, Laurel comes off as kinda abrasive, but remember that she is still processing what happened between Oliver and Sara, it's only been five months as opposed to five years! Not sure how long the story will be, but there will pining! Enjoy!

_“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”_

_A Midsummer Nights Dream By William Shakespeare_

Chapter 2 Exposition

Laurel Lance walked back to her apartment suite with Tommy escorting her. He had rambled something about how dangerous the campus was at night, but really she knew he wanted her to explain what had happened in their Shakespeare class.

He had admitted when he slid into the seat beside her that he had not understood a word of the Old English. And then he proceeded to pout and bribe her with a double chocolate caramel muffin he had brought just to convince her to explain what the first three Acts of _A Midsummer Nights Dream_ were about.

She hadn’t gotten very far in her explanation before their Professor came in, so she knew that now the only reason Tommy was accompanying her home was to extract that summary from her so he wouldn’t have to finish the play – if he even started it.

“Tommy, you didn’t have to walk me home. I know you live all the way on the other side of campus.” She said giving him a knowing look.

He shrugged, leaned against her apartment door, and casually said, “I was just making sure you got home okay.”

She rolled her eyes and knocked her shoulder against his playfully. “Yeah, because you’re Mr. Safety. I know the truth, Tommy.” She teased sticking her key in the lock and missing the panicked look that crossed his face.

“The truth?” he asked loudly.

Laurel glanced at him caught off guard by the weird breathy quality his voice had taken on. What was wrong with him? He sounded weird. Almost like that night when they… _No Laurel stop thinking about sleeping with Tommy._

It was a one-time thing.

Tommy was her friend and she only knew how that would end. She knew he wasn’t Oliver, but she also knew that Tommy was just as much of a commitment-phobic. She needed Tommy in her life and she wouldn’t ruin it because sex with him had been amazing. He seemed to light a fire in her at every touch, every kiss, every stroke. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but she didn’t regret her night with him. As much as she thought about that night she knew she couldn’t go down that road. That would only lead to trouble.

“Yeah. The truth...” she paused and opened the door before moving aside to let him in.

 

* * *

 

 

Tommy stared in shock at the woman in front of him. Her acknowledgment of his feelings hit him hard right in the center of his chest. He felt the butterflies in his stomach – which were always present when she was around – take flight and move through his whole body. He felt his stomach churn and he wondered whether he was going to get sick on the ugly blue carpeting in the dormitory hallway.

He wasn’t even sure how she had figured it out! He thought he had the whole situation under control. He thought he had successfully hid his feelings.

_How_ had she even figured it out? Or had Felicity told her? He was going to kill Felicity for her lack of secret keeping. They had pinky promised and now…now Laurel knew! If a pinky promise couldn’t even be kept what was the world coming to?

“The truth? Oh…well Laurel. I mean…I know we’ve known each other for awhile, but I really—“

“Tommy! Hey!” Felicity greeted walking into the living room from the kitchen her tablet in hand.

“Felicity, I thought you were at work.” Laurel said.

She shook her head and settled on the couch a bowl of Ramen on the coffee table in front of her. “I got home about fifteen minutes ago. I hurried across campus because I am starving. I made about three packets if you guys want some.” She said holding up the bowl and moving it closer to her face so she could slurp it down.

Laurel glanced over at Tommy and smiled. “You want any?”

Tommy opened his mouth and looked between them feeling torn. He wanted to talk to Laurel alone to explain his feelings for her – that she somehow had figured out – but it was easier pretending that everything was fine, which was how Laurel was acting. If he was going with the latter he could just sit on the couch next to Felicity and make fun of her for wearing those stupid Panda flats they had all tried to get her to throw away and act as normal as possible.

“Tommy?” Laurel asked raising an eyebrow at him.

He stuttered and shrugged finally. “I should probably go. Ollie…” he trailed off and shrugged helplessly again.

Laurel’s eyes darkened and she looked away from him. “Okay. Well I’ll see you later then.” She replied in a clipped tone.

He sighed and took a step closer to her. “About before—“

 “It’s fine, Tommy. How about at lunch tomorrow I explain the play? It’s not hard, I promise. It’s all love and confusion, some witticisms too. Nothing you can’t handle.” She said smiling at him and the tension he felt before seemed to melt away when she smiled at him like that.

Except he still felt puzzled about this situation.

All he could concentrate on was how confused he was by what she was saying. It seemed like…like she didn’t care that he had been pining after her for years. Was she just playing it cool? Or did she find him so unattractive she wanted to spare his feelings and pretend everything was fine?           

What had she really meant when she said she knew the ‘truth?’

He became completely lost when she continued talking about their class instead of his deep-seeded secret love for her.

“Laurel…” he began unsure where to even start.

“It’s just a love story. Not some crazed war story. I know, you didn’t read it so don’t even pretend you did. I’ll catch you all up.” She added.

Felicity chuckled from her position on the couch, “There’s no such thing as _just_ a love story. There’s always some bloodshed, at least with good ones, not the Rom-Com ones. Like, Romeo and Juliet, although in my defense I hated that play. Now, Macbeth! That’s a good one.”

Laurel shot her an incredulous look, “Macbeth is a _good_ love story? Seriously, Felicity! It’s not about love at all!”

“Yes, it is! It’s about how a man loved a country so much he was willing to do anything for it. And Lady Macbeth loved—“

“So just to be clear when you said you knew ‘the truth’…what exactly where you talking about?” Tommy asked feeling befuddled about everything going on in this moment. They were talking about Shakespeare plays that much he knew, but he still had no idea what she meant when she said she knew ‘the truth.’ He was obviously missing something, but he had no idea what.

 “I was talking about _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_. I was saying I knew the reason why you walked me home. You wanted to know about the play, not because you wanted to keep me safe or anything. I mean, it’s a _college_ campus, Tommy, not the Glades. I know that was just a cover to help you get out of doing your homework. I know you didn’t read it, “She frowned at him and narrowed her eyes. “What were you talking about?”

He opened his mouth feeling relief wash through him, but also a little disappointed – read a lot – that they wouldn’t have any opportunity to talk about the fact that he was in love with her.

_How do you feel Laurel? Give me some clue. Anything to tell me what you feel about me._

He just wanted to talk about it and yet he couldn’t bring himself to bring it up. Their one night together continued to follow him around. All he could think about was the softness of her skin against his, those big eyes staring up at him with such trust he felt his heart constrict. He dreamed about that night and yet he couldn’t bring it up because of his fears.

Fear that she was still in love with Oliver.

Fear he wasn’t good enough for her.

Fear she didn’t love him like he loved her.

There were too many variables and he so wished that things were different.

He stared down at her and took a deep breath hovering between stepping up, and going back to normal.

“Just…hoping you’d give me _a lot_ of details. I already know I’m not going to read it.” He bit his lip hard trying to hold back the real words he wanted to say to the woman in front of him. Just like he’d done for years. “I’m sorry you caught me.” He added and then glanced over at Felicity was watching them curiously.

“I’ll see you later.” He announced edging toward the door.

Laurel stared at him and then moved forward to walk him the two steps out the door. “Tomorrow. Lunch. You. Me. Shakespeare.” She announced solemnly.

He smiled and nodded before saying ‘goodnight.’

 

* * *

 

 

Laurel slid into the seat beside Felicity and leaned into the couch as they both tuned in to the show that was on the TV. She smiled and laughed when she saw that it was some stupid reality show.

“How was class?’ Felicity asked munching on some noodles.

“Fine.” she said picking the remote up and moving to change the channel.

“Hey…you know how you asked me earlier about Ollie?” Laurel asked suddenly turning to look at Felicity.

 Felicity made a choking sound and Laurel smacked her hard on the back when she began to struggle to breath. Felicity coughed loudly several times before Laurel got up to get her water to clear her throat out. She finally settled down and looked at Laurel through watery eyes.

 “Yeah, why?” she croaked.

Laurel bit her lip, “why did you ask me that?”

"Oh…well…this is kinda weird, but he’s in my Macroeconomics class.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He asked me to be his…study buddy.” She said with some disdain.

Laurel blinked as she took in her roommate’s words. Felicity shifted uncomfortably on the couch and waited for Laurel to say something.

“What did you say?” Laurel asked.

Felicity grimaced and set her bowl of noodles down. “I told him I would have to talk to you. I don’t even know why he wants to be _my_ study buddy anyway.”

Laurel sighed heavily and took her friend’s hand. “I’m sorry, Felicity.”

“For what?” she asked in surprise.

“Ollie…Ollie has a tendency to…use people to get to me. I mean, he uses people period, but when we…break up. Well, in this case when he hurts me too badly to come and talk to me like an adult, he always picks girls that I…He is always trying to get back together with me. I mean, it’s weird. He cheats on me and then finds girls to make me jealous with. I don’t really get it, honestly. I know he loves me and I love him, but we don’t…work. Sometimes I think we’re just stuck in this cycle because we’re both so familiar with it.” Laurel admitted quietly.

Felicity frowned, “so you’re saying that Oliver only asked me to be study buddies to get to you?” she paused taking in what that meant. Laurel watched Felicity take those words in and something strange passed over her features, but Laurel couldn’t understand what the blonde was thinking.

She gave her a gentle smile and squeezed her hand. She didn’t want Felicity to be hurt by Ollie, just like she was. Felicity wore her heart on her sleeve and she knew Ollie would take advantage of that. She was vulnerable and she needed to be kept safe, unlike how she had protected Sara. But Laurel refused to think about Sara so…

“Ollie doesn’t care about other people’s feelings. He only cares about what he wants and what he wants is me back. I mean, he left, like three messages on my phone when he got here last week.”

“What did he say?”

Laurel shrugged, “I didn’t listen to them.”

“Are you going to go back to him?” Felicity asked tentatively.

Laurel scowled at the thought. But she couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. Was she going to get back together with him? It’s what they did. They broke up then made up. It was a sick cycle that neither of them could break. Laurel always assumed they would just end up together, but… Was sleeping with Sara finally going too far? Were they actually done for good or was this another phase in the Merry-Go-Round they were currently riding together.

She really wanted to be finished with him, after everything that had happened she wanted to have nothing more to do with him. Maybe, maybe one day they could be friends, but all she could remember was walking into her apartment and Sara and him going at it without a care in the world. All she could think about were their apologetic faces, but she couldn’t help wonder if Ollie was _actually_ sorry.

Before the Sara thing, they were going to give it another try. He was the one who called her and then he slept with her sister… They weren’t exactly together, but they kind of were. They hadn’t had _the talk_ , but they had agreed to try again. So they were semi-dating. Regardless, it was shitty because she thought she was in love with him, but now…now she wasn’t so sure.

She was uncertain where she wanted to go from here.

Tommy, though was another factor for her hesitation.

 “I don’t know.” Laurel said finally. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Ollie anymore, especially after her one night with Tommy. All she knew was that she needed to warn Felicity about Ollie if they were going to be studying together. She wasn’t jealous about them spending time together, she was just worried. She trusted Felicity’s judgment she just wanted her to be cautious.

“You still love him.”

Laurel glanced over at her friend and then away slowly unable to nod or shake her head. Sometimes she wondered if she just loved the _idea_ of Ollie and not him as an actual person. Like, she loved how they used to be and now, she was just caught in a rut with him.

The apartment was quiet as Laurel tried to avoid looking at her. She really wasn’t sure at this point.

“So…should I be study buddies with him?” Felicity asked finally.

“If you want, but remember that he’s Oliver Queen and even though he wants you to think he’s a good person, he makes some pretty shitty decisions and drags people down with him. It’s not that he’s a bad person per se, he just…takes everything for granted and utilizes his resources until there’s nothing left. Then he moves on. Felicity, listen to me, I don’t want you to get hurt.” Laurel said darkly.

Felicity studied her friend before nodding slowly storing that tidbit of information in the back of her mind.

 

* * *

 

 

The next day Felicity was in the cafeteria eating breakfast when someone slid onto the bench across from her. She was taken aback by anyone joining her at this hour, especially since it was so early.

She knew Laurel was already in some debate class, Tommy rarely made it to breakfast, and her computer science friends usually ate at a café across campus since that’s where all the professors hung out and they were always trying to suck up to get in on the latest technology project the professors were involved in. So anyone joining her was pretty atypical.

“Felicity.”

She stared at Oliver Queen in surprise as he sat across from her. She looked around the cafeteria to see if anyone else noticed this strange phenomenon.

“Good morning.” He greeted leaning across the table and trying to capture her attention.

She gulped down the mouthful of cheerios she had just shoved into her mouth and made an attempt to respond, but all that came out was some strange garbled noise and some half chewed cheerios.

She grimaced and tried to pretend that she didn’t just spew food at him.

Oliver grinned in jollity at her and she cleared her throat to try again.

“What do you want?” She cringed at her wording and tried again, “I didn’t mean it like ‘what do _you_ want.’ I wasn’t trying to be rude. I mean, it came off as rude. But I wasn’t _going_ for rudeness. I’m sorry, I haven’t had my cup of coffee this morning.”

He chuckled and looked over at the cup next to the orange juice she had grabbed.

“Isn’t there coffee in there?”

She glanced over at the half full cup and winced because he was half right.

“I need a full cup to get this noggin going.” She said tapping her forehead.

He nodded mock seriousness on his face. “So would this be a bad time to ask whether you talked to Laurel about being study buddies?”

She looked away from his hopeful face and concentrated on the rapidly growing soggy cheerios in her bowl.

“I did.” she said finally.

“And…?”

“And…I think it went well. The talk, I mean. It was much better than the ones over the summer. Honestly, the only reason I didn’t even recognize you before was because she referred to you in other terms…or Ollie. Not that I _should_ recognize you. I mean, I don’t watch Access Hollywood or read People or anything. I feel like they rot my brain. Sometimes though when Laurel leaves them laying around the apartment I do, but not usually. So…I would’ve told you no yesterday if I had known…but since I’m obviously off my A-Game I didn’t…recognize you. I did talk to Laurel though and she said…that it would be…okay.” Felicity rambled trying not to concentrate on the clear blue mirthful eyes that were trained on her.

“But, I should forewarn you I am going to ride you really hard.” Felicity’s eyes widened at what she said and she felt a furious blush come over her cheeks. “I mean, I’m going to ride you hard, like a teacher. No! Not like a teacher, that sounds really…I’m trying to say that I’m going to be on you constantly. Er…like keep your nose to the grindstone or whatever.” She babbled feeling like she was falling further and further down a hole.

She watched Oliver study her with delighted eyes and she wished that something would swallow her, preferably some large animal, since that seemed more plausible than the floor opening up and making her disappear. She really did not want to have a chance to face what she had just said.

_Ride hard, really?_

 “I just want you to study. I’m not going to waste my time if you don’t…study. Hard. Like a lot,” she stuttered desiring to face palm herself to shut up. “I’m not trying to come on to you!” she blurted out finally.

His grin was stretched across his face so wide she wondered if it would split in two, but when she said the last words it dimmed a bit and she felt a little wistful, like she wanted that smile back.

“I know.” He replied calmly.

“Right. Just to be…clear. Just study buddies. I’ll help you pass Macro.” She said trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.

“And what do you get?” he asked suddenly.

“What?”

“What do you get from our deal?”

She frowned not fully understanding what he meant.

“What do you mean?”

He sighed impatiently and all traces of humor were gone from his face.

 “Like what do you get? What’s your angle?

“My angle?” she asked surprised.

He nodded vehemently and she leaned back against her chair taking in the young billionaire across from her.

She tilted her head and studied him.

His hair was disheveled, but in more of a sexy-bed-head type of way. The way that models looked in those glossy magazine ads where they seem as though they just rolled out of bed, but they instead spend hours getting the messy look just right. In her opinion though, he could do with a hair-cut, but she liked the dark blonde on him very much. The coloring brought out the blueness in his eyes, which were bright and sparkled like the seas in the Caribbean. Or at least what she thought the sea would look like from the pictures in the aforementioned magazines she’d seen. His jaw was clenched as if he were waiting for her to reveal some bad news, but she also saw the sharp angle of it and the bone structure was so inhumanly perfect she wondered how someone could be so attractive.

What she saw underneath all of the bravado though, was a man waiting for the other shoe to drop. He was asking her point blank what she was getting out of this, as if he knew everyone wanted something from him and she was just like everyone else. Even though she was literally just helping him in Macroeconomics.             She figured with being as in high demand as he was he was probably bugged all day for just being _Oliver Queen_.

She saw loneliness too behind those blue eyes and she suddenly craved very badly to give the guy with too much riding on his shoulders a hug. Even if he was just a rich partying playboy he still had to probably deal with uptight parents and a company he would be forced to work at, but have no idea how to run.

She wondered vaguely what he really wanted out of life or had he just been _told_ what he wanted since he was born.

“I don’t want anything.” She said finally pushing the rest of her cheerios away suddenly not feeling very hungry.

“Nothing?” he asked in surprise.

She shook her head and offered him a melancholic smile. “I’m doing this because I like Tommy and he’s a good friend…and Laurel…well…” she gave a little shrug and then reached for her bag. She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down her phone number. Handing it to him she saw a peculiar expression on his face, but she pushed it away assuming that he was thinking of Laurel.

“I’ll see you around.” She said softly before departing from the cafeteria.

She knew some how that giving Oliver her phone number was probably a bad idea, but then again she was only helping him out with one class. He seemed like he needed some help, and not just in the school department.

How could anything bad come from that?

 

* * *

 

 

It was finally Saturday and Laurel was putting on the silky black tank-top she had gotten at Forever 21 and a pair of dark wash jeans. She had done her make up to perfection and had picked out the jewelry she would wear with it. Now, the last thing she needed were some heels to go with the outfit.

 She dug through her small closest and came up empty handed huffing at the fact she couldn’t find the pointed pumps she wore to these types of frat parties.

“Felicity!” Laurel yelled from her room.

She heard a muffled ‘what’ and she sighed knowing that Nyssa would yell at them for yelling through the walls, which made no sense to Laurel, but whatever. She threw on a robe and then hurried out the door into Felicity’s room where she was lounging on the bed reading some magazine about technology.

“Did you borrow my pointy black shoes?” Laurel asked glancing at her closest as if the shoes would jump out at her.

Felicity shook her head, “No. But maybe Nyssa—“

There was a knocking at the door and Laurel threw her a desperate look. “It’s Tommy, can you please get that?”

Felicity smiled slightly and got off the bed to answer the door. Laurel quickly hurried back to her room and finished getting ready emerging from her room still frantically looking for her shoes.

“Sorry! Just give me a few more—Ollie!” Laurel said in surprise when her eyes finally made contact with Ollie instead of Tommy who she thought would be there. He was standing in their living room with a _backpack_ over his shoulder and a _notebook_ in his hand. She frowned wondering why he had a backpack.

“Laurel.” Ollie greeted looking away from Felicity and over to her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked her tone becoming annoyed.

He opened his mouth, but she took a step forward and quickly cut him off. “Are you coming with us to Chi Psi tonight?”

He glanced over at Felicity who seemed to be edging her way back toward her room.

“Felicity? Could you see if Nyssa has my shoes? I want to talk to Ollie.” Laurel said her tone she knew was a little too bossy, but she needed to talk to Ollie _alone_.

 Felicity nodded only too happy to leave the two exes and went to Nyssa’s room hurrying in without even knocking. When she was gone Laurel turned back to Ollie and crossed her arms over her chest.

“What are you doing here?” she asked the annoyance even more evident in her voice.

He held up the notebook he was holding and waved it around. “Studying. With Felicity.”

She felt her eyes narrow at him and she studied his face, which was a mask of indifference. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking and that heightened her annoyance.

If this was some ploy to get back with her she wasn’t really sure of his angle. Did he just want to see if she was going with Tommy? Or was he planning on trying to seduce Felicity in their apartment while she was out at this party? What was he thinking?

Whatever the reason was she felt the sudden need to explain to him what his boundaries with Felicity were. She didn’t want her friend to be hurt, especially by Ollie. She didn’t know much about Felicity’s past, but after watching her be emotionally destroyed by Cooper last year she felt the need to protect her friend. Sometimes Laurel felt like she was Felicity’s impromptu big sister.

 “Did Tommy tell you we were going to Chi Psi?” she demanded trying to see through his mask.

Ollie nodded, “yep. He invited me, but I need to study.”

Laurel felt her jaw literally drop at that.

_Study? Ollie?_

No fucking way was he here _just_ to study. He had an angle, she just had to figure out what it was.

“Stay away from Felicity.” Laurel snapped suddenly and she cringed inwardly at how much of a jealous ex-girlfriend she was sounding. She was playing right into his trap she could feel it.

Ollie raised an eyebrow at her and then glanced over her shoulder to where a door softly closed. Laurel whirled around to find Felicity staring at the both of them irritation clear in her eyes.

“Nyssa said and I quote, ‘I wouldn’t fucking touch those ugly ass shoes if I was dying of frostbite on top of a mountain’ so…looks like you lost them or Melinda has them.” Felicity said and then she walked back toward her room and slammed the door a little harder than necessary.

 

* * *

 

 

Oliver felt like he should’ve waited a little while before he came over to Felicity’s. He had momentarily forgotten that she lived with Laurel, although how that was possible he had no idea.

After meeting Felicity six days earlier he had thought of little else, besides her. He had tried to get her off his mind with a few nameless brunettes he had met at some parties during the week, but nothing seemed to work. Not even drinking until he got sick or burying himself deep within a one night stand.

All he thought of since he met Felicity was Felicity. And he really didn’t get it. He figured it was only because she had turned him down _and_ didn’t know whom he was, so he felt some type of way about it.

As each day ticked by though the urge to go see her was growing. And that was something he _really_ didn’t get. He’d met this girl and she’d been _very_ straightforward about her distaste for him, and yet he couldn’t understand this lure he had to her.

By Saturday he couldn’t take much more of this strange feeling and he finally broke. He had tried to wait until their next Macro class together, but it was proving impossible. Every day he went without seeing her, the desire to see her was growing more and more present. He’d never felt this way about a girl before and it was strange.

So now here he was, standing in her living room while Laurel began some tiresome tirade about how shitty of a person he was.

Oliver took in the weird altercation that was going on in the apartment, wishing he had waited a few extra minutes so he could just be alone with Felicity and not be lectured by Laurel.

Although, he hadn’t called or anything to see if Felicity was free so maybe this was his karma for not letting her know before hand that he was coming over. Now, he was stuck with Laurel and yes, he didn’t particularly want to study, but he also didn’t really want to go to some Frat party with Tommy and her either.

He just figured that Felicity was probably not doing anything on a Saturday anyway and if Laurel was out of the apartment maybe he could try and get to know her a little more without school and his ex getting in the way.

And maybe if he got to know her and see that she was just like every other girl he knew, he wouldn’t care so much about her and thus he could continue drinking and fucking his way through Connecticut.

Simple, easy, plan. But Laurel was fucking ruining it for him with this whole lecturing business, so while she talked he spaced out, his brain going to the one topic that had been on his mind… _Felicity_.

Since they had decided to be study buddies they hadn’t really talked after that, which was something else that annoyed him. He was used to _girls_ chasing _him_ , not _him_ chasing _girls_.

He had texted her once to tell her he saved her number and to save his, but that was it, which again was weird since usually girls wanted to text as much as possible. Although, she had told him that there were two people in their group – which he wasn’t happy about since he wanted to keep her to himself – and they met on Monday nights, so that was something.

But that was it.

_That_ was all the interaction with Felicity that he got. And it wasn’t acceptable. He wanted more and he really didn’t want to think about the _why_ behind it.

Usually he would just let the whole thing go and try to find some other girl to cure his ever present boredom, but what was so weird about all of this was that he didn’t _want_ another girl. He wanted to talk to Felicity, get to know her, and spend time with her.

He figured once he solved the Felicity Mystery then he’d move on. So showing up at her apartment tonight had been his first step in finding out more about the petite blonde.

And also curing the strange feeling inside him.

“Laurel, she’s my study buddy. I don’t have some ulterior motive. You’re being fucking paranoid.” He snipped annoyed that she caused Felicity to go away, but in all actuality he should probably not be too snippy with her, since he was still in the red-zone.

“I’m looking out for _my_ friend, Ollie. She’s not some prize to win!”

 “I know that!”

 “She’s been hurt in the past and I won’t let you hurt her to get to me.”

Oliver frowned and glanced over at the door he knew now to be Felicity’s.

“Who hurt her?” he asked cautiously his mind already going to Tommy, because really he didn’t know who else it could be. He didn’t know her well enough to know whom she hung out with, except for Tommy. Maybe Tommy didn’t like her as much as he first thought. Or maybe Tommy had friend-zoned her or something, but then again they seemed pretty comfortable with each other at the café.

Laurel waved that issue away impatiently, “it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that she was hurt and she loved him a lot, but he _lied_ and _cheated_ on her. I know how you are Ollie, and I don’t want you to pretend to be friends with her just to _use_ her.”

 “I’m not going to use her! We’re just studying for Macro. She’s going to help me, like she helped Tommy.” Oliver exclaimed his mind already storing Laurel’s information in some part of his brain that was slowly becoming Facts About Felicity.             He felt confused about the cheating part though, since in his experience girls who were cheated on rarely became friends with their exes. Maybe Felicity was forgiving to Tommy? Or maybe it wasn’t even Tommy, but someone else entirely…and Tommy was helping her through it?

Oliver was surprised at how much he really wanted to know about what had happened and what Laurel was eluding to. He was also surprised at the anger that churned in his gut at someone hurting Felicity.

Laurel rolled her eyes impatiently, “and that’s the problem! She has such a big heart and she’s so loyal to people that even when she’s being hurt by someone she…she ignores it in favor of their needs. It happened with Tommy and I’m sure it will happen with you.”

Oliver scowled his desire to know what was happening between Tommy and Felicity now at an all time high. He was also having trouble ignoring the odd monstrous feeling in his chest at the mention of them together, or really at the thought of Tommy doing something to Felicity. The feeling he had, had when he saw them together at the café was raging within him again in full force. “What happened with Tommy?”

 “She cared about him a lot! And then…well it doesn’t matter. All I’m saying is don’t lead her on. I know how you work Ollie and Felicity is different. She’s not going to put up with your bullshit.”

“Why are you telling me this? You sound like an overprotective big sister.” He said impatiently trying not to let out the anger he felt at the idea of Tommy and Felicity onto Laurel.

Laurel snorted and shook her head, “and we know how you feel about sisters, don’t we.”

 “I apologized about that, like a hundred times, Laurel! I’m sorry, okay! It was a seriously dick move on my part, but I can’t change the past. I do want us to try and move past this. Maybe…friends.” He said quickly the anger he felt about Felicity and Tommy rapidly turning to guilt at what he had done with Sara.

She huffed, “friends, right.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but there was a loud knock on the door interrupting them. Laurel reached forward to reveal Tommy behind the door and Oliver watched his best friend look between them with a furrowed brow.

“Lover’s quarrel?” he tried to tease, but Oliver noticed that the smile planted on his face didn’t reach his eyes.

Laurel rolled her eyes and moved back into the apartment.

“Oliver wishes.” She snapped looking under the couch for what he assumed were her shoes.

“What?” he asked befuddled.

He didn’t understand Laurel. He had told her _at least_ twice that he was here to study with Felicity. Not her. Felicity.

“He’s here to study with Felicity.” She added from the floor.

Apparently she did hear him.

She was just doing that weird female passive aggressive bullshit that always confused him.

Tommy glanced over at him with raised eyebrows. “So we’re on the merry-go-round again?” he muttered quietly so Laurel wouldn’t here.

Oliver shook his head feeling irritated. “No. I _really_ am here to study.”

Both Laurel and Tommy looked over at him with raised eyebrows of disbelief and then Tommy laughed loudly and clapped Oliver on the shoulder.

“Man, if you’re trying to get laid go to a club, but don’t use Felicity. She’s a good person and she definitely will have to use her Loud Voice to tell you to go fuck yourself. Trust me when I say look elsewhere.” Tommy said quietly.

Oliver heard Laurel huff from her position on the floor and he wondered if she’d heard him. He looked between the two people he considered the closest to him for most of his life and feeling undeniably hurt about what they were saying.

Did they really only see him as someone who used people to get what he wanted? Did he really come off as that big of an asshole?

Sure, he had fucked up more times than he was willing to think about, but these two people had stood by him throughout his life…until now. Now, he felt like…like they were giving up on him. Like he was a lost cause.

And why was Tommy warning him away from Felicity? Did he have feels for her? And what was up with Laurel going all protective big sister?

They were being really fucking weird. And he really didn’t like the fact that they both looking at him like he was the villain.

“I’m not using anyone.” He said loudly wanting them both to hear that and hopefully Felicity too if she was by some miracle listening to this asinine conversation.

“Sure, buddy, whatever.” Tommy said waving him off and Laurel let out another dark laugh at his announcement as well.

He scowled at both of them annoyed that they thought so low of him, but a small voice inside his head spoke up.

_Who could blame them? I have done a lot of fucked up things._

His scowl deepened and he bypassed both of them who were now kneeling on the floor searching for Laurel’s shoes and walked over toward Felicity’s door. Instead of knocking he burst into the room and listened to her shriek in surprise.

“Don’t you knock?” Felicity snapped glaring at him from her perch on her bed.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her tone, “I didn’t think it was necessary.”

She scowled and slid off her bed to stand in front of him. “Not necessary? I could’ve been changing! Or-Or I don’t know maybe…getting ready to go shower! Or doing something that I wouldn’t want anyone to see! You don’t just get to storm in here!”

Oliver felt his lips slip into a genuine smile at how annoyed she seemed. He couldn’t explain it, but for some reason seeing her in such a huff was just one more endearing thing that was added to the list of things he liked about Felicity.

It also seemed to help that just being around her seemed to make all of the annoyance he felt at Tommy and Laurel disappear. She was like sunshine warming him from being somewhere cold and dark all day.

He shook his head at his own inner sappiness and tried to ignore the pleasantly warm feeling in the pit of his stomach that came from being around her.

“I didn’t storm.” He stated.

“Well you should’ve knocked. I could’ve been doing a lot of inappropriate things in here,” she paused momentarily and winced. “And by inappropriate I do not mean touching myself or anything. Not that I am sexually repressed, but…I’ll just stop there.”

Oliver’s eyes widened as images of Felicity infiltrated his mind, ones where she was touching herself on the bed in the corner moaning loudly and panting heavily. His eyes darted over there and he could already picture her spread out upon the teal comforter fingers arched and teasing in just the right way to make her come, while hopefully thinking of him. He felt his pants tighten and he slowly let out a breath trying to concentrate on something that was very un-sexual like…

“Laurel, did you find your shoes?” Felicity asked looking over his shoulder.

Oliver felt suddenly very un-aroused at the mention of his ex and he sent a quick prayer above for the interruption.

_Wait! Since when do I think of Laurel as un-sexual?_

“Yeah.” Laurel said shortly.

He turned around feeling more in control of his body and gave her a stiff smile.

“Have fun.” He said a little more forcefully than he normally would, except Laurel’s words still haunted him. He knew he deserved his fair share of lectures of how to treat her and so on and so forth, but he was _genuinely_ just trying to study with Felicity. And he was annoyed that he was getting shit for it.

He didn’t have an agenda and he wished people would see that.

At least he didn’t have an agenda anymore, unless you counted getting to know someone as an agenda, which he didn’t.

Laurel glanced over at Felicity and then sighed heavily. “Be carful.” She said and Oliver watched as she gave Felicity a meaningful look.

Felicity nodded and turned back to Oliver once Laurel had left.

“We should get out of my room.”

“But it’s so homey.” He blurted out. He winced inwardly at himself, wishing that he hadn’t said anything. But it was the truth. Being in her room wasn’t like being in other girl’s rooms.

Felicity’s room was pleasant and warm, just like her. It was like getting a hug from a very good friend.

The walls were painted a light shade of blue, and movie posters hung on the walls. There was an overloaded bookshelf and a vey untidy desk with a computer on it. He noticed there were no family pictures. It was simply and yet it was so Felicity.             He shook his head at that thought wondering when he started paying attention to things like girl’s rooms.

She blinked, narrowed her eyes at him before carefully moving toward the living room. There was a small table near the window and she walked over to sit there.

“So why are you really here?” she asked gesturing to the seat next to her.

He set his notebook down and dropped his bag beside him.

“To study.”

“For…?”

“Macro. You know the class we have together.”

She paused and looked down at the notebook on the table.

“Oliver, what’s this really about? Our study group doesn’t meet until Monday night. I told you this when we texted.” She said patiently.

“It’s just…I couldn’t wait until Monday,” He paused and looked out the window. “Listen, I’ve…I started reading the chapter and I don’t get it. At all. Hell, I’ll be honest I don’t get _most_ of my classes. I was hoping that maybe if you weren’t doing anything tonight that you could help me. I know it’s a lot to ask and you probably—“

She held a hand up to stop him and looked him dead in the eye. He saw the usually crystal blue turn a darker color, like cobalt and he wondered whether he said something wrong.

“Oliver, I need you to be honest with me. If this studying thing is going to work I need honesty,” she paused glancing momentarily away and then back at him with a look of determination. “Do you have an agenda?”

He blinked caught off guard by her question. “An agenda?”

“Look, after listening to your…conversation with Laurel – which I didn’t do on purpose you guys just speak really loud – I don’t want to be just another victim in the bloodshed that is your love life. I’m not a prize or a thing or an object to use. I am a person and I will be treated like a person. So I need you to be honest with me. Are you going to use me to get back together with Laurel or are you just here for help?”

He stared at her in astonishment. No one had ever spoken to him like this and he found it surprisingly refreshing. He already knew he couldn’t lie to her so he wasn’t even going to try. When he finally found his voice he shook his head while speaking. “No agenda. I genuinely need help.” He said fully telling her the truth.

He did truly need help, and she wasn’t just another casualty in the war between him and Laurel. Sure, he still wanted to sleep with her, but right now all he needed was her help. And maybe to understand why he felt so…different around her.

“Good. I’ll help you, but I won’t deal with lies.” She said softly giving him a sincere smile.

He nodded slowly, his heart flipping at the sincerity honest written all over her face. He had never met someone so open and trustworthy before. It was different and enjoyable and something he really wanted to maintain in his life. He dealt with too much bullshit already, all the phony, plastic-like lifestyle of the rich and famous. Being around Felicity made him feel, like a normal person. And he really liked that. But that didn’t explain why he felt so… _weird_ around her. Like his heartbeat sped up, he had a weird twittering feeling in his stomach, like butterflies, and he felt like…like he was breathless. It was weird and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Or _why_ it was happening. He had just met the girl, and they hadn’t even kissed yet!

“So you heard everything?” he asked uncomfortably.

She nodded and gave him the same gentle smile. “It’s nothing I don’t know. Laurel…she’s gotten pretty overprotective since…the summer. She likes to play big sister and I let her…mostly. Recently it’s becoming a bit too much…” She said trailing off.

“Why don’t you tell her that?”

Felicity shrugged, “because I think it helps her. She’s always been a little bossy and protective, but lately it’s just escalated. I don’t mind for the most part, but I can’t stand when she speaks for me, which is what she did earlier.” She paused and fidgeted in her chair, “Listen, I’m not taking into consideration anything Laurel or Tommy have said, I’m putting my faith in you. If you let me down then I’ll know the truth, but I’m my own person and I’ll figure out my own life. It’s my life. My choice.”

Oliver found himself smiling at her declaration and he felt the sudden weight that had been resting on his chest since stepping into the apartment vanish.             Felicity was giving him a chance and that was more than he could ask for. He knew he had screwed up in the past, but Felicity was giving him an opportunity to show who he truly was, which was more than he could say for Tommy and Laurel.

He felt elated at not feeling like the villain for something he had foolishly done, he was being given a chance to show Felicity that he wasn’t a bad guy, he just made bad choices. And he was going to change that.

He felt a resolve solidifying within him that he wouldn’t let her down because of his past mistakes. Felicity was putting faith in him and that was much more than he could ask for. And he would show her who the real Oliver Queen was, not the one he pretended to be, or the one he had accidentally become. He wanted to show Felicity the man he could be and he realized with a scary amount of clarity that this woman was just as special as his friends claimed she was.


	3. Complication

_“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,_  
_And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”_

_A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare_

 

Chapter 3 Complication

On Monday night Oliver found himself for the _second_ time in the Yale Library, except this time he was there to _study_ instead of find Tommy.

It had to be some kind of record, since at his other two schools he had never even set foot on the same _block_ as the library.

The same Redhead from before was there and his mind yet again drifted to Felicity in the now overly fantasized librarian daydream.

He shook his head trying to clear it of images of Felicity wearing a sultry expression and sitting on a desk threatening to punish him for having overdue books.

Instead he looked around the library to see if he saw the woman who had been haunting his thoughts, if possible even more since Saturday.

He really didn’t get it at this point. She was attractive, quirky, and cute, but she wasn’t his type and he didn’t understand why he felt so _different_ around her. She just made him feel…so _alive_ and _normal_. Like he wasn’t _Ollie_ or _Oliver Queen_ he was just Oliver.

And he liked that.

He liked being around her, which was strange since he rarely ever enjoyed just talking to a girl and not trying to get into her pants.

But Saturday night had flown by even though they had been doing homework. She had talked him through Macro, but also had touched upon his other classes too. She made everything seem so easy and understandable that when she began to yawn and rub her eyes he realized he’d been there for almost four hours. He couldn’t believe how quickly the time had flown by and when he got back to the apartment he shared with Tommy he went straight to bed as images of Felicity floated through his head.

Now, here he was in the library on a Monday night, instead of at Dollar Beer Night at the bar on the edge of campus. Instead of getting shit faced like he’d normally do, he was at a study group, all just because he wanted to do better at Yale than he had at his other two schools. And maybe also because he wanted to see Felicity.

He was still trying to ignore whatever weird feelings he had toward her, because he couldn’t _like_ Felicity. She was _just_ another girl to him, who was helping him, oddly without getting anything in return. But that was beside the point. She was just a girl, who might be his friend. Who he didn’t have any feelings for, small or large. Except of gratitude because, you know, she was helping him with his schoolwork.

“Are you Oliver?”

Oliver turned toward the person who had asked, a large African American man sitting with a petite brunette with shoulder length hair.

He looked between them before answering. “Yeah, are you…part of the Macro study group?” he asked realizing that Felicity hadn’t told him the two other people’s names in the group.

The guy nodded and gestured across from him and the girl who watched him carefully.

“I’m John Diggle and this is Lyla Michaels.” The guy said pointing at himself then nodding at the girl.

Oliver gave them both a smile before sliding into the chair. “Oliver.”

“We got that.” Lyla said huffing.

John looked over at her and then back at Oliver. He leaned back in his chair and wrapped an arm around the back of Lyla’s seat.

“Sorry about Lyla. She’s a little…” he trailed off as the girl glared at him.

“What John is trying to say oh-so-delicately is that I don’t agree that Felicity invited you to be in our group. We already had one obnoxious billionaire I really don’t see why we need another.” She said scoffing.

Oliver frowned feeling perplexed about what she was saying. Who was the other rich billionaire? Was there another person in their group that Felicity forgot to mention?

“I don’t—“ he began.

“You’ll have to excuse Lyla,” John said shooting her a glare. She rolled her eyes at him. “We met Felicity last year in Microeconomics. She took pity on another billionaire, one who I might remind Lyla became a friend of ours and who she liked by the end of the semester very much.”

“Who was it?” he asked although he had a sinking suspicion that it was Tommy.

“Tommy Merlyn. And yes I might have liked him because he was funny, but that doesn’t mean Felicity should go around adopting billionaires because she feels bad about their lack of education. I think she should’ve run it by us instead of _telling_ us. All I’m saying is that I think we should all pull our weight because I’m not letting _him_ get an A off our hard work.” Lyla said as if Oliver wasn’t there.

Oliver’s frown deepened as he listened to Lyla speak. “What did Tommy do that was so bad?”

 John sighed and gave Lyla an exasperated look. “Nothing. Lyla actually liked Tommy. Especially after…”

“After what?”

“After what happened with Cooper.” Lyla supplied reluctantly.

“Who’s Cooper?”

John and Lyla exchanged looks and then begrudgingly Lyla began to talk.

“Cooper was Felicity’s boyfriend. He cheated on her. When she found out she got really…sad, obviously, and Tommy really stepped up. He would go out and buy her ice cream and he sat and listened to her try and process what was going on. He really helped her get out of her funk and he became a really good friend of hers. Plus, he really helped out with our Micro projects and…I don’t know he just did a lot of stuff for her. So…I guess I can’t fault him for that.” Lyla paused and a smirk bloomed across her face. “I do think there was more to him helping her though. But every time I tried to get some info out of Felicity she clamed up tighter than a virgin on prom night.”

John gave her another annoyed look and then looked at Oliver. “What Lyla is trying to say is that Tommy ended up being a vital part of this team. And we hope that you are too.”

Oliver nodded, his mind more concentrated on the fact that Tommy had helped Felicity out last year after her boyfriend had cheated on her. Did Tommy have _serious_ feelings for her? It sounded like he did to Oliver and Felicity seemed like she had _serious_ feelings for him, if the way they acted around one another was any indication. The now familiar tightening feeling in his chest began to press down upon him and he attempted to reign in his anger.

“So what’ going on between Tommy and Felicity?” he heard himself ask amazed that he kept his voice light instead of the irritation that was swirling in his chest.

He could feel the monster roaring inside him and he felt the aggravation bubble beneath the surface. He really needed to get a hold of these feelings inside of him regarding Felicity and Tommy. He had never felt this way and he seriously didn’t like it. It was like he was burning up all over and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking from the rage coursing through him at the idea of them together.

Lyla grinned, “that’s what I want to find out! I mean, a guy doesn’t go out and buy a girl ice cream at odd hours of the day unless he’s aiming to get some. I think she’s afraid to ruin their friendship. I mean, it’s a valid excuse. But it also could be what happened last year between them and how he’d broken her trust that’s holding her back.”

Oliver swallowed thickly looking at John who looked miffed by the topic and Lyla who looked gleeful.

“Lyla, can you just drop it? Stop meddling in the poor girl’s love life. If she wanted to go after Tommy she would.”

“You don’t know how a girl’s mind works, Johnny! It all comes down to the fact that she’s scared! I mean, he’s a billionaire and he could have any girl. But on the other hand, maybe they’re trying to keep it secret.” Lyla mused.

“What are you talking about? I thought you just said she was scared!” John said in displeasure.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say anything until I knew more, but what the hell. Last year at the End Of Dorm party I saw…Tommy Merlyn leaving her apartment.” Lyla revealed smirking.

John and Oliver stared at her in bewilderment and she rolled her eyes when they didn’t reply.

“So maybe, they’ve already gotten together! And just want to keep it secret, you know because of the Tabloids and everything.” She exclaimed.

John blinked and continued to stare at her before finally shaking his head and looking toward Oliver who had an exacerbated look on his face.

He was clenching his jaw so tightly he was surprised he hadn’t broken anything. The picture that Lyla had painted of Tommy and Felicity was making the monster in his chest roar with fury as images floated to his mind of Tommy taking Felicity on a desk.

He could see in his mind’s eye the way that Tommy would make Felicity scream and he _seriously_ loathed the image. He really _did not_ want Tommy anywhere near Felicity and he certainly _did not_ want to think of them together.

But it was like the image was burned into his brain. He couldn’t seem to escape it. His hands fisted under the table and he attempted to calm down before anyone noticed his off behavior.

“Anyway! Welcome Oliver to our study group. I’ll talk to Lyla before we meet to go over topics we can and cannot discuss. She likes conspiracy theories so you’ll have to excuse her.” John said loudly followed by a yelp he let loose when Oliver assumed Lyla kicked him under the table.

“I’m just saying that Felicity needs to find someone who treats her right, and Tommy does. Unless of course they had a one-night stand at the party and he just wants to be friends. Then, she should find someone else to occupy her time.”

“Do you really think they slept together?” Oliver asked narrowing his eyes at her. He really didn’t like the thought of that, but it would make sense as to why Tommy had told him to stay away from Felicity. Or when Felicity had told him she liked him. He hated the thought of any of it. It made his stomach tighten into knots and he couldn’t seem to shake the ever-present animosity he felt about them together. He couldn’t see Tommy treating her the way he thought she deserved to be treated.

Lyla shrugged, “I’ve tried to ask her, but she always dodges the question. If she had nothing to hide then why wouldn’t she just be straightforward? All I know is that Tommy slept with someone in that apartment that night.”

“Whom else did she live with?”

“Laurel Lance, Mckenna Hall, and Helena Bertinelli.”

Oliver opened his mouth to further question Lyla when both her and John straightened while looking over his shoulder.

“Hey! Sorry I’m late! I ran into Tommy.” Felicity said sliding into the seat beside him.

 He felt an odd mixture of happiness at seeing Felicity, but he also felt indignation at her for holding up their time to be with Tommy.

Lyla raised an eyebrow at him and gave him an ‘I told you so’ look before ducking her head and looking down at her notebook. He wasn’t sure how to respond to the situation, but if there was one thing he knew it was that he needed to know exactly what was going on between Tommy and Felicity.

Purely to cure his own curiosity because in no way shape or form did he like- _like_ her or anything. He just wanted to make sure she was being treated right. It wasn’t like he had _feelings_ for her. He was curious. That was it. Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself.

 

* * *

 

 

Laurel was grabbing a coffee from the coffee cart outside her PLSC232 Info, Tech, and Political Power class when she ran into Ollie leaving the building.

“Laurel.”

She gave him a tight smile and sipped her coffee before stepping around him and toward the building.

“Ollie.” She greeted moving forward.

“Wait! Laurel?” he called making her look back over her shoulder at him.

She watched as he gave her a nervous look and then reached a hand up to rub the back of his neck, an action that alerted her to his own discomfort. She turned fully back around and waited for him to go on her own curiousness eating at her.

“Yes?” she asked when he didn’t say anything else.

He sighed heavily and took a step toward her. He stared down at her and opened his mouth and then closed it.

She raised her eyebrows not knowing what was going on with him, other than he was acting really weird.

“What is it, Ollie? I need to get to class.” She announced huffing loudly.

He took a deep breath squared his shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “What happened at the End of the Year Dorm party last year?” he asked point blank.

She stared at him in awe not knowing what to say to his question. A quick flash went through her mind of Tommy hovering over her as he kissed along the column of her neck and she gulped as heat flushed through her body.

She opened her mouth to respond, but her mind seemed to go blank at the question. Should she tell him the truth? Or just play it off like she had no idea what he was talking about? How was she supposed to handle this?

“What?” she asked deciding to go with ignorance.

He huffed and looked down at her uneasiness evident in his eyes. “I was just wondering what happened at last year’s End of the Year Dorm party…between Tommy and…” he trailed off looking ridiculously uncomfortable and her stomach dropped to her toes.

He knew.

He totally knew.

She wasn’t sure whether she should confirm it or not. Should she talk to Tommy? She didn’t want Tommy to lose his best friend over this! And she definitely didn’t want to get in the middle of Tommy and Ollie.

She knew their night together would come back to bite her in the ass, but yet she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. What was she supposed to do?

“Tommy. Yeah…okay. It’s true.” She breathed taking a deep breath and diving right in.

“It’s true?” he asked his eyes widening to the point she thought they would burst out of his head. She had never seen him look so surprised and annoyance ran through her at the fact that he thought she couldn’t be with someone beside him.

“It was only one time. I mean, it’s not like anything is going to happen again. At least that wasn’t the plan but…” she trailed off trying to be apologetic about it. But for some reason she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She just felt…like she’d dropped a bunch of baggage and it felt…good. She needed to come clean and even though it made their lives an even bigger soap opera she needed to do this.

“But what?” he asked his voice coming out all breathy and filled with hurt.

She glared at him refusing to feel guilty about sleeping with his best friend when he slept with her sister. “Well maybe something will come from it. I mean, Tommy’s a really good guy and he could offer a girl a lot. Maybe it’s…it’s more than we thought. Maybe it’s…love.” She revealed realizing as she said the L-word that she might _actually_ be in love with Tommy Merlyn.

When did that happen?

But as she thought more about it she realized that the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach, the fact she was always happy around him, and how he made her life so much…better were signs that she _was actually in love with her friend_.

She knew she felt something for him, but was it love?

She let out a breath as the world seemed to tumble around her with this revelation. Was she in love with Tommy? She needed to figure this out.

And she should probably be getting to class.

“I have to go.” She said quickly turning around and hurrying into the building. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Tommy as she tried to untangle the mass of feelings she just realized she had for him. She was so focused on her own feelings she didn’t see the completely distressed expression on Oliver’s face.

 

* * *

 

 

Tommy was happy. While he was in the middle of his BUS230 Business Law class he received a text from Laurel telling him they had to _talk_. He knew he had no right to be so elated that Laurel just wanted to talk to him, but for some reason he had a vague suspicion that she finally wanted to talk about what had happened between them at the end of last year.

The one night-stand, that meant more to him than he’d ever admit.

He was just glad they were finally going to talk about something that was very much overdue. It was about time, and even if it didn’t go the way he wanted, he still so very badly wanted to at least tell her how he felt.

He felt ready to reveal his secret love for her.

He decided to stop at home before he headed over to Laurel’s apartment. He wanted to drop off his books and maybe take a quick shower before heading over.

When he arrived home he found Oliver sitting on the couch staring at the wall, a dark expression on his face.

 “Dude, why are you sitting in the dark?” Tommy asked turning the light on and looking at Oliver in bewilderment.

Oliver didn’t answer immediately instead turning rage filled eyes to Tommy.

“Laurel told me.” Oliver revealed making Tommy pause in his movement toward his bedroom.

Tommy turned slowly around, his heart hammering in his chest as his mind began to skim through the millions of things Oliver could be referring to.

“Told you…what?” he asked trying to keep his face blank.

 Was he talking about their one night together? Or was he talking about something else entirely? Was Laurel’s text from earlier a warning about how she’d spilled the beans to Oliver?

“About the End Of The Dorm party.” Oliver revealed standing up from the couch and stalking toward his best friend.

Tommy blinked as his mind began to go on overdrive as he tried to determine whether or not he should tell Oliver the truth or not.

“Okay, okay. Oliver, we didn’t mean for it to happen. I mean, it wasn’t like I fell on top of her or anything and we landed into bed naked. It just…happened.” Tommy paused and took a deep breath. His heart was beating a mile a minute as he told his best friend that he slept with his ex. But he needed to do this. He needed to tell him or else…or else he’d never get the chance he so desperately wanted with Laurel. He needed to be honest. Tommy owed him that much. “Listen, I love her. I know it’s a lot to take in, but I do. She’s…she’s really special to me and I’m sorry, man, but that’s just the way I feel.” Tommy stuttered wondering whether Oliver was going to punch him for the words spilling from his lips.

“You love her?” Oliver asked looking physically pained.

Tommy nodded slowly, “a lot. More than anything.”

 “You won’t…you won’t hurt her, right? I mean, she deserves the best after what happened.” Oliver said lowly his eyes radiating pain.

Tommy nodded slowly knowing that despite what Oliver had done to her, protecting and taking care of Laurel was one of the most important things to both of them. They had known each other for so long that despite Oliver and Laurel’s history Tommy knew that Oliver still cared for her. Tommy wasn’t even sure that Oliver didn’t still love her, but he was taking a chance and hoping for the best.

“I promise.” Tommy said sincerely.

Oliver nodded sadly and then turned away from him.

There was a moment of silence and the Tommy took a minute to think about what had just happened. Tommy knew that his friend was probably going through a lot right now and probably needed some time to think about what had just happened. Tommy was just glad though he hadn’t punched him.

“Are you okay?” Tommy inquired quietly.

Oliver glanced over at him and nodded quickly. Tommy could tell he was trying to put on a brave face, but he wasn’t buying it. He’d known Oliver too long and he knew that he was saddened by what he had told him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well it’s just that…you seem kinda upset.”

“I’m not.”

“Are you sure? It’s okay if you are. I think…I mean, it’s not like we’re going to start dating or anything. She only sees me as a friend.” Tommy said gloomily. He knew somewhere deep inside that despite how angry Laurel was at Oliver, Tommy knew they would probably end up back together. It’s just what they did and Tommy had a feeling that Laurel would never love him the way he knew she loved Oliver.

Oliver stared at him wistfully. “No, she doesn’t. She told me she likes you, Tommy.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the other day. I’m happy for you, really.” Oliver said forcefully.

Tommy looked at him skeptically. “I know you don’t mean it, but thank you for saying it. I figured you guys would end up together.”

Oliver frowned, “really?”

“Yeah, I mean, I see the way you look at her. I know it’s not the best situation and it’ll take some getting used to, hell, I don’t even know if we’ll date. Maybe it was just a one-time thing. I need to talk to her about it.”

“What do you mean the way I look at her?” Oliver asked flummoxed.

Tommy shrugged, “You know, moon-eyes and all that shit. Listen, I need to go, but thanks for the talk. I feel…thank you for being such an awesome friend. I know, this is probably shocking, but it means a lot that you’re being supportive. It must be hard for you, considering everything, but I think after everything you’ve burned that bridge.”

Oliver nodded slowly as Tommy’s words sunk in. “Wait, how did I burn that bridge?”

Tommy gave him a ‘Come on’ look. “Oliver, I love you to death, man, but you’re an awful boyfriend. You can’t commit, you have the attention span of a three year old when it comes to women, and you cheat. I know I have no room to talk, but I’m serious about her and I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”

Oliver scowled at him, “well maybe I’ve changed.”

 Tommy raised an eyebrow and regarded him, “maybe you have, but that doesn’t change the fact that she had strong feelings for you and—“

“She has strong feelings for me?” Oliver asked in shock.

Tommy frowned and nodded unsure why Oliver was so surprised about Laurel have strong feelings for him. Had they never said I love you? He couldn’t remember Oliver ever saying it, but that didn’t mean anything. Maybe they were one of those weird couples who just made sex-eyes at each other so show their love.

“Yeah, man, didn’t she tell you?”

Oliver shook his head feeling bewildered.

Tommy shrugged and glanced down at his phone to see he was late to go meet Laurel.

“Listen, I need to go talk to Laurel, so I’ll see you later.” Tommy said heading toward the door.

Oliver opened his mouth, but Tommy left before he could hear what Oliver had to say. All he could think about was his strong desire to go see Laurel.

 

* * *

 

 

Laurel was waiting for Tommy in a dark alcove of the library. She had wanted to meet him at home, but she didn’t want to risk anyone over hearing them. The library seemed to be the best place to meet anyway, since it was late at night and not many people were in there.

She felt a vibration in her pocket and she saw that Tommy had texted to see where she was. She quickly texted him back her location and waited until he came to find her. She didn’t have to wait long until she saw Tommy approaching her from across the library. She smiled to herself as she watched him cross the room toward her and she felt her heart speed up at the prospect of being in his proximity in a few short minutes.

She opened her mouth to greet him when he moved into her personal space and pressed his lips hard against her own. She stiffened too surprised to respond to his lips on hers. Then he pulled back and she already missed the feel of him against her.

“Laurel—“ he began, but she cut him off with her own lips attaching themselves to his.

She pulled away when air became an issue and they stared at each other in awe.

“I’ve wanted to do that for awhile.” She admitted blushing brightly.

“Really?” he asked in surprise.

She nodded shyly. “Yeah…I’ve just been so consumed with my own…issues.”

Tommy raised a hand to cup her cheek and looked at her with sympathy. “I know you’re afraid of getting hurt again, Laurel, but I want to give us a chance. I have…strong feelings for you and ever since that night when we were together…I know you still love Oliver, but if you could find it in your heart to give us a try, I’d be eternally grateful.” He said looking into her eyes.

A slow smile graced her features and she moved closer to Tommy. “I don’t have feelings for Ollie anymore. He hurt me…a lot and I just…it was like a circle with us. We couldn’t escape the cycle and I need to. I think that Ollie and I are finished Tommy, for good. I mean, don’t get me wrong I’m still angry about the whole thing, but it’s time that I moved on. And I’d like to move on with you.”

“Really?”

She nodded eagerly, “really. If you want I mean.”

“I want to. I want really bad.”

They laughed together and she leaned forward and pressed another kiss to his lips. When she moved back she had a puzzled look on her face and she studied his face.

“Why now?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you decide to make a move now?”

He paused and seemed to be searching for the right words. “Oliver asked me what happened last year at the End Of the Dorm party.” He revealed.

She smiled slightly and shook her head. “He asked me the same thing this morning.”

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth.” Laurel said quietly. “I realized that I needed to. It was really refreshing to just tell him. He seemed kind of upset, but I don’t regret it.”

“Regret what?”

“Any of it.”

“Good.”

“What did you tell him?”

“That I…cared about you and I wanted to be with you. He said he was fine with it, but…”

“We dated for awhile.” Laurel said quietly.

Tommy nodded, “right.”

They fell into silence the both of them staring at each other as if they couldn’t believe what was going on.

“I think we should keep this to our selves. At least for a little while. What do you think?” Laurel asked quietly.

Tommy hesitated and then nodded, “secrets are kinda hot.”

She giggled and pulled him in for another kiss both of them getting lost in one another.

 

* * *

 

 

Oliver wasn’t sure what he was doing there. All he knew was that he didn’t want to stop being Felicity’s friend even though her and Tommy were probably dating. He wasn’t really sure what was going on between Felicity and Tommy, but he figured it had to be something good since Tommy had been in a good mood for days. Oliver hadn’t seem Tommy in that good of a mood in a very long time, but when Oliver tried to talk to him about it Tommy just said he got a good grade in one of his classes.

Oliver found it irritating, but he tried to be happy for his friend. Tommy deserved someone genuinely good, and Felicity was the embodiment of light. He just…wasn’t as happy as he felt he should be for two good people. He just…didn’t understand why Tommy had to date Felicity.

Why couldn’t he literally be with anyone else in the entire world except for her? Felicity, who seemed to light a fire in his heart, and who pushed him to be a better person. He liked being around her. And he liked being around Tommy – except for lately it seemed that the better his mood was the worse Oliver’s was. He just didn’t like being around them together. It made that now familiar monster roar in his chest and he was constantly nauseous when thoughts of them together popped up in his head. He just…didn’t like it. But he refused to look into the why of the matter.

And what was with what Tommy had told him, about how he looked at her, and how she felt about him. Was Tommy right? But did it really even matter now when she was with him? He didn’t think he made moon-eyes – whatever that was – at her.

And what strong feelings did Felicity have for him? And why didn’t she say anything – although, Tommy did have a point about him being an awful boyfriend. Just look at Laurel. Maybe Felicity found it easier dating Tommy because he didn’t have any baggage and had never dated Laurel.

Also he’d only known Felicity for a few weeks, when did she develop these strong feelings for him?

Then again, maybe she was like him, he had developed this strange ferocious monster every time someone of the male variety talked to her. Maybe that’s what Tommy meant by strong feelings. Then again he had no idea what was going on anymore.

Tommy was dating Felicity, Laurel was jealous over him talking to Felicity, he felt angry anytime anyone even talked to Felicity.

Everyone in his opinion had lost their fucking minds.

He just didn’t want to acknowledge the unspoken truth in the situation and for now he was fine with it, but he knew that when everything was out in the open he wouldn’t be able to hid behind his denial.

So here he was outside of Felicity’s door on a Saturday evening debating whether he was really going to ask her to study when she probably had plans with Tommy.

Hesitantly he raised a hand to knock on the door and he impatiently waited for her to come to the door.

Instead of her coming to the door, however, he was greeted with his ex opening the door.

He scowled his already dark mood becoming if possible even worse. Had she already left with Tommy? Was she even home? He felt like an idiot.

“Is Felicity here?” he asked when Laurel just stared at him a wide eyed look gracing her features as though she had some secret waiting to burst out. He ignored the uncomfortable look on her face and looked over her shoulder too concentrated on seeing of Felicity or Tommy were there.           

He was becoming rapidly uncomfortable with the fact that he was probably getting closer to stalker status.

“Yeah. She’s in her room.” Laurel said slowly.

 “Great.” He said pushing past and into the apartment.           

 “What are you doing here, Ollie?” she asked following after him. He heard the soft click of the door close and he looked toward her wondering if he should go into Felicity’s room or just wait in the living room awkwardly with Laurel.

“I wanted to ask Felicity if she could help me.”

“Oh, we’re back to this studying thing.” She said smiling slightly.

“Yeah. I guess. You have to do it kinda frequently.” He said woodenly.

She rolled her eyes and walked toward Felicity’s door. He noticed there was an strange bounce in her step as she walked around and he wondered if everyone in the world was happy except for him.

“You know, Ollie, I’m glad that your taking school seriously. If Felicity is helping you buckle down, I think that’s really good. I’m sorry what I said before.” Laurel said smiling at him and he stared at her wondering if he had missed some critical thing today that seemed to make everyone ecstatically happy.

 “Thanks.” He said not knowing what to say.

 She grinned and nodded then knocked on Felicity’s door. “Felicity? Ollie is here.” Laurel announced.

Oliver awkwardly stood in the living room and waited for Felicity to emerge. Finally she came out looking red cheeked and wearing a tight black dress, a red wig, and no glasses. He blinked wondering why she was wearing a wig then looked over at laurel who had walked away and toward the kitchen humming to herself.

“Hey.” He said looking her over again his eyes settling on neck line of the black dress wear it showed a generous amount of cleavage.

“What are you wearing?” he asked trying to keep his eyes on her.

“I’m Pepper Potts.” She stated and then blushed brightly.

He grinned feeling all of the stress since finding out about her and Tommy disappear. He felt lighter somehow and he had a sneaky suspicion that was because of her.

“Who?” He asked.

“The new Avengers movie is coming out.” She said quickly stepping back into her room and going back to doing her make up.

He frowned watching her, “okay…”

“I’m going to the midnight screening. We’re gearing up to watch the old one and then going to a private screening at midnight. You could buy tickets through school.” She said glancing over at him.

“Okay.” He said again watching her do her make up. His mind concentrating on overdrive about what Tommy had said to him. He couldn’t stop wondering whether Felicity had, had strong feelings for him, but he also kept telling himself it didn’t matter, since she was now dating his best friend.

She glanced over at him and smiled, “what are you doing here?”

“I needed help…” he trailed off feeling like an idiot for being there in the first place. He could be off getting shit faced and instead he’s watching Felicity get ready to go to some movie, probably with Tommy.

She nodded absentmindedly, “well, I can help you for a little bit, but then I really need to go.”

“That’s fine.” he said sitting down on her bed.

She glanced over at him taking in his sullen expression, “do you want to come with me?”

“I thought you need tickets.”

“You do, but there are still some available I bet.”

“What about Tommy?”

“What _about_ Tommy?”

“I mean, isn’t he going with you?”

She gave him a confused look and shook her head slowly as if she had no idea what he was talking about. “Why would Tommy come with me?”

He shrugged and looked away not able to bring up the fact that he was sure that they were dating. “I don’t know…”

She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head in a puzzle fashion and going back to doing her make up.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Tommy hates all this nerdy stuff. Anyway, do you want to come? I know it’s not your scene but—“

“Okay.”

“Really?”

"Yeah, why not?” he said trying to ignore the flutters in his stomach at the prospect of spending the whole night with Felicity. In a strictly platonic way.

“I just figured going to a Superhero movie wasn’t your…cup of tea.” She said looking at him with renewed interest.

He smirked at her, “well there’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

She laughed and grinned at him fondly. “I’m sure that’s true. Now we need to find you a costume.” She mused staring at his long sleeves forest green Henley and dark jeans.

“I don’t dress up.” He stated firmly

“You could be Tony Stark.” She mused looking him over ignoring what he’d said completely.

 “I don’t dress up.”

“It’s a Superhero party, Oliver, you need to dress up. But it doesn’t matter anyway since you have the billionaire thing already down. You could probably just go how you are and tell people you’re Tony Stark.” She said logically.

He looked down at his clothes unsure how to respond to that comment.

 “So do you do this kind of thing a lot?” he asked stepping into her room further.

She smiled slightly before finishing her make up. “Sometimes. I mean, it’s fun. And I’m not really into the Frat party scene. I’ll go with Laurel and Tommy, but I’d prefer other things.”

“Like dressing up like Superheroes?”

She laughed and nodded, “something like that. Now hand over your work and we’ll do some schooling before we head out.”

He sighed overdramatically and moved over on the bed to make room for her. As she talked he tried to concentrate on what she was saying, but his eyes kept drifting to the neckline of her dress, or to her lips. He found himself on a few occasions leaning closer to her subconsciously and he kept having to tell himself that she was now with Tommy so he couldn’t be getting too close and comfortable with her.

But he found that he really couldn’t’ help it. He was like a moth drawn to a flame and he knew inevitably he’d be burned, whether it was because she was with his best friend or the fact that he knew she was much too good for someone like him.

But Tommy’s reference to her feelings kept popping up in his mind and he so desperately wanted to ask her about it. But she was with Tommy and he didn’t want to put her in a position where she had to choose.

He blinked in surprise at that last thought. He had never minded making a girl choose before…but now it somehow felt wrong. It probably had to do with the fact that he didn’t want to upset Tommy…but he knew that wasn’t the whole reason.

After about an hour of studying Felicity made them stop and leave the apartment. She led them toward one of main building where the theater was and she babbled energetically about the movie.

He found himself getting excited too since her enthusiasm seemed to be infectious. He smiled down at her and he found himself wishing that this was a real date instead of a friendly outing, but once again he had to remind himself that she was with Tommy. He scowled at the thought, but he tried to push away the negativity so he could just concentrate on her.

“Here we are.” She sung out ushering him forward. They got in a long line for tickets and she continued talking merrily until suddenly she stopped.

Oliver frowned wondering what had made her stop chattering on. He hadn’t been paying attention, he just liked watching how her eyes light up and her cheeks turned pink as she talked. His eyes strayed to her lips a few times too wondering what they would feel like against his own. But now that she stopped and a dark look passed across her face he pondered what she’d seen that made her freeze.

“Felicity—“ he began, but she turned to him a forced smile on her face.

“Sorry.” She said quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Felicity—“

“It’s really—“

 “It’s not nothing. Please tell me.” He said wanting to know why she suddenly looked so woebegone. He didn’t know why he cared, but he did. He really did. God, help him.

“It’s…well its Cooper.” She stuttered ducking her head and staring down at her shoes.

“Cooper? Your ex?”

“How do you know that?” she asked surprised.

“Lyla.” Oliver said sheepishly.

Felicity rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “Figures. I guess, you know what else happened then.”

Oliver nodded, “he cheated on you.”

“With his roommate.” She supplied looking put out.

“His…roommate?” Oliver asked with raised eyebrows.

 Felicity nodded, “yeah.”

Oliver frowned trying to make sense of what she was saying. “Was his roommate a…girl?”

Felicity smiled slightly and shook her head, “a boy. It doesn’t matter. I’m happy he’s out and everything. I just wish he could’ve been honest with me.”

Oliver nodded and opened his mouth to respond when they heard someone call out to Felicity.

She cringed and looked over at a tall dark blonde guy walking toward them. He was dressed like Captain America and Oliver felt a surge of dislike instantly.

“Cooper.” Felicity said trying to keep the disdain from her tone.

The dislike Oliver felt turned to hatred toward him because of the simple fact that he was beginning to loath anyone who hurt her. He could hear the ache in her tone, and despite the fact that he knew that she was with Tommy now and that he would probably aid her like he had the last time, Oliver couldn’t help but wish that it was him who she was turning to be comforted. That he would have the opportunity to hold her to him and whisper soothing words into her ear. And buy her ice cream to assuage her pain.

Felicity didn’t deserve the hurt Cooper had caused and Oliver felt the urge to step between them and protect her as if Cooper could do anymore damage. But Oliver reminded himself that it wasn’t his place to protect Felicity, it was Tommy’s. But then again Tommy wasn’t there...

_Wait, where was Tommy anyway?_

“Hey! Felicity.” Cooper greeted smiling at her and then glanced over at Oliver with interest.

“Is this your boyfriend?” he asked eyeing Oliver and turning back to Felicity with a kind smile.

Oliver opened his mouth to answer the question, but Felicity beat him to it. Instead of telling Cooper that, ‘no this wasn’t her boyfriend’ she slid a soft hand through his and moved closer to him. He shivered at the action of their skin pressing against each other and he felt an electric shock rush through him at the innocent contact. He wondered briefly what it would be like to touch her more intimately, especially if holding hands made him turn into a pile of mush at her touch.

“Yes. He is.” Felicity said quickly giving Oliver a warm smile before turning back to Cooper.

Oliver felt a heat expand throughout his insides. And it was nothing like how it was when she was around Tommy and he had to watch them together. This was a pleasant heat, like drinking hot chocolate on a winter day. It was cozy and he just wanted to sink into her warmth.

Cooper gave her a smile and nodded. “Well I’m Cooper, Felicity’s ex.”

 “Hi.” Oliver said tightly, whether that was from the fact that he was very aware of Felicity’s skin against his or the fact that he strongly disliked Cooper for hurting her he wasn’t sure. He didn’t really care either.

For just a moment he was able to pretend that Felicity was with him, that he was genuinely being introduced to her ex as her current boyfriend. He let himself image what this could really be like, standing in line for some geeky movie with her as she talked none stop with excitement, meeting people from other parts of her life, he bet she liked super salty and buttery popcorn too and he’d probably have to get up in the middle of the movie to get more. He wouldn’t mind because – because he was with her and that’s all that mattered.

 _Hold up, since when do I daydream about_ dating _girls instead of sleeping with them? What’s wrong with me?_

“Are you guys going to see the movie?” Cooper asked trying to make conversation.

She nodded eagerly, “yeah. I bought my ticket, but Oliver wasn’t sure if he could make it so we’re just getting his.”

“Myron is already picking out seats for us.” Cooper supplied.

“It should be good. I’ve been reading about it online and it looks like it’s going to be just as good as the first!” She said with elation.

Cooper nodded and the two fell into a conversation about the first movie leaving Oliver to watch them. He felt like an outsider watching the two of them gush over every little detail. He could see now how they dated, although they seemed more like friends rather than significant others. But that might have something to do with the knowledge that Cooper was gay.

Oliver though hadn’t seen the first movie and wasn’t really into Superheroes or comics. He had never been one to get pop culture references either, generally he was too busy with partying, drinking, or girls, to really care about anything that wasn’t instant gratification. Movies took too long to get to the point. Reading was boring.

But now with Felicity, he felt the need to prove himself, and he wasn’t used to that.

Then again he wasn’t used to anything from Felicity’s world. Or just the way she made him feel in general. It was like he was looking at the world through brand new eyes.

He felt the prickling of that roaring monster in his chest, while watching them together and he realized with sudden shock that he was _jealous_. He was _jealous_ of Cooper and Felicity.

When had that happened?

When had he gotten so attached to Felicity that he couldn’t even watch her with some guy who was more of a friend than an ex?

The revelation hit him hard in the chest and slowly he began to look back over the few weeks since he met Felicity. He thought about how she made him feel, so different and alive. He thought about how she lit a fire in his heart and erased the boredom from his life.

Then he concentrated on her touch, the warmth of her hand in his and he realized with instant clarification that he didn’t want her to hold anyone else’s hand. He didn’t want her to introduce anyone as her boyfriend. He wanted her.

All of her.

He realized with lucidity that he’d been _jealous_ of Tommy and Felicity. The roaring monster in his chest was the clichéd Green Eyed Monster that seemed to growl anytime Felicity was with someone who wasn’t him.

He had never been jealous or possessive before…was that why it had taken him so long to figure out what he was feeling? Or was he just that out of tune with his emotions? Was he emotionally stunted from all of the drugs? He heard that happened, but this…this was ridiculous!

He couldn’t believe it had taken him so long to realize it! How could he not have known he was jealous of Tommy and Felicity? And now that they were dating –

or whatever they were doing – how was he supposed to handle that?

Maybe he hadn’t figured it out because he’d never been jealous of Tommy or anyone else in his life. He had no idea what jealousy felt like, since he always had everything he wanted. Except now, with Felicity.

Because she was with Tommy and there was nothing he could do about it. Except maybe intervene and he couldn’t do that… Tommy was his best friend, and Felicity was becoming a very good friend.

He couldn’t get in the middle of them. At least he knew he shouldn’t. What was he supposed to do about this revelation anyway?

It wasn’t like he _liked_ Felicity, right?

Right!

Shit, he totally liked Felicity.

How did he miss this? He could he have missed this? And when did this happen? Was it before she believed in him or after she urged him to be better?

With the revelation of his jealous everything else he had been repressing was now very evident.

_He liked Felicity._

And now that he realized it he knew he couldn’t unrealized it. Felicity was with Tommy and that was the end of the story.

_Fuck, how did this happen?_

He cursed himself mentally until Cooper went away and Felicity turned back to him a frown on her face.

“What’s wrong?” she asked narrowing her eyes at him in suspicion.

“Nothing.” He said quickly.

“Oliver…” she said giving him a pointed look.

“Just…I didn’t like him.” He said searching for a good excuse as to why he suddenly looked like a man who just had the ultimate revelation.

Maybe not ultimate, but pretty big.

Very big.

He liked Felicity…

What was he going to do?

She smirked and turned back to the line. “Thank you.”

He bit his lip to hold back a smile. “No problem.”

She smiled to herself and they moved up in line. Oliver looked down at their still linked hands and hoped she didn’t let go. He didn’t want to break free, despite the fact he knew he should, but what made him happier – and probably guiltier – was the fact that Felicity didn’t withdraw her hand either, at least not until they had to.


	4. Climax Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and comment and also kudo the story! It's so much fun to write! This chapter was pretty big and I hada hard time trying to figure out what to do, but I decided to break it into two parts. The second part should be up soon! Please let me know what you think!

_"Lovers and madmen have such seething brains_   
_Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend_   
_More than cool reason ever comprehends."_

_A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare_

**Chapter 4 Climax Part One**

It was a Tuesday night and Felicity was sitting cross-legged on the floor of her room with Oliver relaxing against the foot of her bed. Their Macroeconomics notes were spread across the carpet, as they got ready for their first test.

Last night they had studied with John and Lyla in the library, but Oliver had texted her earlier in the day to ask if they could go over the material some more, since he was still unsure about some of the key concepts.

"Do you want to run over the basics again?" Felicity asked as she tried to stifle a yawn.

He shook his head concentrating on her perfectly typed up notes she had copied for him.

She always applauded herself for her excellent note taking skills. She liked keeping track of the powerpoints on her computer and writing her notes down – and perhaps doodling – to catch all the important concepts.

Besides sometimes if the Professor was going too slowly she wandered onto websites showcasing shoes and that wasn't ideal. Hence, why she had to write her notes too so she didn't drift off too much.

It made sense in her head, and when Oliver had asked about her odd note taking skills she had given him just that answer, but with more rambling about shoes. And maybe the cute shopping website she'd wandered on to, too.

Give her a break she was excited about the dresses. And shoes.

She was still debating about that gold dress…

Felicity shook her head and tried to concentrate on Oliver. Although, that generally wasn't too hard since most of her thoughts stayed with him anyway. She had found that with spending so much time studying and in class with him that she wasn't as immune to his charms as she wished. It _may be_ impossible to be immune to his charms. All she could hope for was that she hid it well.

While he studied the pieces of paper Felicity took some time to study him.

In the last month and a half since they had gotten to know each other – more so than Laurel's Douche Ex and Laurel's Nerdy Roommate – she had found that he was nothing like how Laurel described. From the moment she had met him at the beginning of September she had seen so many different sides to Oliver Queen.

She had noticed the subtle changes, but what had really made her take notice was when they had gone to see the Avengers a few weeks earlier. Ever since then he had shown her a different side of himself, a softer side. And she wondered vaguely if Laurel knew this side of him.

It wasn't exactly the way he acted, he was still a bratty rich kid when they were in public, but she noticed that he reached out and touched her more. He complimented what she was wearing, and offered up conversation topics that made her wonder whether he was reading up on technology. He was playful and teasing with her, but he could also be caring and attentive. Like, when she had gotten sick a few days ago and he had brought her chicken soup and had gone to her professors to get her homework. Or how he showed up at the end of her work shifts to walk her home to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

She realized that it was the little things that really made their friendship so special. That the foundation of their friendship was built on an understanding and a desire to trust one another.

So it really should've come as no surprise that she was crushing on him. Hard. Very hard crushing on one Oliver Queen.

Sure, when they had met she realized she liked him, but more in a wow-you-are-ridiculously-hot-and-talking-to-me kind of way or in the I-would-totally-have-sex-with-you-if-you-looked-twice-at-me kind of way.

But she knew what Oliver was like…like running into a celebrity crush and being completely blind to reality. It wasn't going to happen, and Felicity knew she needed to accept that.

But that didn't stop her from desperately imaging _possibilities_ with him.

She had to keep reminding herself that everything between them was strictly platonic. Oliver and her were totally _unthinkable_.

Not going to happen.

But she couldn't help herself.

So she allowed these little moments with him and she filed them away in the part of her brain labeled Oliver Moments.

She knew there were too many things standing in their way. One, being Laurel. Two, him not even liking her as more than a passing grade. Three, she was…well _her_.

What could he possibly see in her? Especially when he had, had Laurel and just about every other girl that was leggier, prettier, brighter, than her. She knew it wasn't going to happen, she told herself it wasn't going to happen – but nope! Her brain was not listening.

It was just her luck.

"…basics of supply and demand." He finished looking at her solemnly.

She blinked slowly coming back to her surroundings. She had no idea what he had just said, and she was probably looking like an idiot.

She gave herself a little mental shake, offered him a little smile and bit her lip nervously. "What?"

"I said; can we go over supply and demand basics again before we call it a night?"

"Right, yeah, of course. This is your session." She said tapping her notebook with one finger nervously.

He tilted his head and she watched him narrow his eyes giving her that concerned and serious stare he always gave her when he wanted to have a _real_ conversation.

"What's wrong?" he asked and she sighed internally itching to respond with 'What _isn't_ wrong?'

Instead she gave him a melancholic smile and tried to get more comfortable on the hardwood floor. It was for naught though because it was a _hardwood floor_ and those things sucked to sit on.

"Nothing." She answered eventually after stalling by scooting around a little, fawning getting comfortable.

"Felicity—" he began.

"What did you want to be when you grew up, Oliver?" she asked cutting him off and asking something that she had been wondering for awhile.

Why was he doing this?

Sure, she knew he was supposed to go to college at the desire of his family. But what about _after_?

She couldn't help, but think about that day in the cafeteria when this whole agreement started. Was he _told_ what he wanted out of life? Did he have a _say_ in anything or was his entire life dictated by his parents? And the mystery that was really bothering her was, who was Oliver Queen really?

She'd heard so many things about him from varying parties, but after spending time with him she couldn't help, but wonder who he _really_ was.

"What?" he asked surprised.

"What did you want to be when you grew up?"

He paused an incredulous look coming over his face. She watched as he leaned into the sideboards of the bed and concentrated hard.

She waited patiently her mind conjuring up images of a little Oliver running around pretending to be a doctor, lawyer, CEO, clown, superhero, and everything in between.

"I don't know." He responded finally.

She frowned and raised a curious eyebrow. "You don't know?"

He shrugged, "I never really wanted to be anything. I mean, even if I wanted to do something, my dad always told me I'd own Queen Consolidated so…I don't know."

She blinked taking in his answer and then she felt an even deeper sadness at that answer loom in her chest. She nodded slowly not knowing what else she could say.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" he asked surprised.

She stared into his eyes taking in the sapphire like orbs that always seemed to gaze into her soul and see something she had yet to discover.

She was the first one to look away and she looked down at her notebook already moving to pull up notes on supply and demand.

"What did you want to be when you were little?" he asked breaking the tense silence.

She smiled fondly at the memory of her younger self talking in an animated tone and driving her mother crazy.

"A computer." She said finally earning a laugh from him. She successfully broke the tense silence and they turned back to their studying.

* * *

A few days later Felicity was eating lunch on the couch before work when Laurel came stomping in. Felicity quickly swallowed her sandwich already mentally making an escape route so she wouldn't get in the way of Livid Laurel.

"You should be glad you're an only child!" Laurel yelled flopping onto the couch beside her.

Felicity frowned feeling diminished that her escape plan was shot now that Laurel was beside her. She might as well listen, she still had an hour until work.

"Why is that?"

"Because you don't have to worry about Sibling Day! Do you _know_ who just called me? Do you?" Laurel exclaimed angrily.

Felicity bit her lip not sure how she should answer that. Of course, she didn't know who called Laurel, but by her reaction it could be only one of two people, and she knew Oliver hadn't just called Laurel because she had left him taking their Macro test.

Besides she didn't even think Oliver and Laurel talked…if anything they seemed to be avoiding on another. Laurel was generally out when Oliver came over and when Laurel was home Oliver generally stayed away.

"Who?"

"Sara!" Laurel shouted waving her hands around angrily.

Felicity nodded slowly taking in the news. She wasn't sure what she could really say to that. She had never met Sara, but she knew all about her. Felicity thought the situation was shitty, but despite this Sibling Day thing Laurel hadn't really talked about Sara or what had happened over the summer. As a matter of fact she had been in a pretty good mood lately.

"What did she say?" Felicity asked curiously.

"Just that she was coming this weekend for Sibling Day and I better save her a spot on the couch! As if I even want her here! Or to spend an _entire weekend_ with her! She didn't even acknowledge the situation." Laurel said scowling.

Suddenly a jolt of emotion seemed to go through Felicity's body at the thought of Sara coming to visit. Did Sara still have feelings for Oliver? Did Oliver still have feelings for Sara?

They had to feel something for each other since Oliver was willing to ruin a serious relationship and Sara was willing to screw over her sister.

She tried to shove the emotions away, since it really shouldn't matter anyway. If Sara was not in the picture, then Laurel would be in the picture. Which she was, technically.

This was just another reason that she should really stop crushing on Oliver Queen.

He left a trail of heartache in his wake.

Oliver never talked about Sara, but Felicity was willing to bet that he still cared about her. And he'd want to reconnect now that she was in New Haven.

She felt her stomach drop in anxiety and she felt sick at the prospect of having to watch Sara and Oliver together.

She hadn't really had to see him with another girl. Well, once she had seen him kiss some brunette while walking to the library before a study session, but that was it. And he looked uncomfortable so she decided that it didn't count, although it still hurt. More than she wanted to admit.

She really needed to reign in these feelings.

_Get it together, Smoak._

"Didn't you spend the entire summer with you? And she spent three months apologizing? Maybe she thinks you guys are okay." Felicity said encouragingly.

Laurel shot her an angry look. "We won't be okay for awhile. And I don't care if she spent _years_ apologizing. She slept with the man I loved! That won't ever be okay."

Felicity felt a combination of guilt at her own emerging feelings toward Oliver and sadness that Laurel was always going to let this hang over her head.

"I'm sorry." She said for lack of anything else to say.

Laurel shrugged and looked at the silent TV. "It's not your fault. I'll just tell her not to come. It's fine. Everything will be fine."

Felicity watched her get off the couch and lock herself in her bedroom. She already knew that everything would not be fine.

* * *

Felicity eagerly embraced her cousin, Roy Harper, when he stepped off the bus stop in New Haven. He shifted uncomfortably in her arms and tried to shrug her off, but she hugged him tighter to her the more he struggled.

"Roy!" she greeted giving him a wide smile and tightening her hold on him.

"Breathing is going to become an issue, Felicity, if you don't let go." He said rolling his eyes at her.

She smiled even wider and pulled away taking in the little changes in her cousin.

"How are you?" she asked when he shifted uneasily in front of her.

"Fine."

"Roy…"

"Okay. I guess. Tired." He revealed in exasperation.

She smiled softly and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I missed you too."

He ducked his head and she squeezed him to her again as they made their way back toward campus and her apartment.

Roy had been coming to visit her since she had started at Yale. His mother thought it would be a good way to motivate Roy into going to college, but Felicity already knew Roy wasn't going to college. They had, had many discussions about it. Roy just came to spend the weekend with Felicity and since both of them hardly saw one another, neither brought up the fact that Roy wasn't perusing higher education.

Plus, Felicity didn't have any siblings and Roy was the closest person to a brother. It would be just another weekend hanging out. Although somehow as they walked back to the dorm Felicity already knew it would be much more than that.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Sara was supposed to be arriving around the same time as Roy. Despite Laurel's pleas Felicity had left the apartment early to get him and thus missed the arrival of Sara 'Slut-face' Lance. Laurel's nickname, not hers.

The closer they got to the apartment Felicity felt the tightening in her stomach at what kind of war zone she'd be walking into. She stopped suddenly and gripped Roy's arm.

"I have to be honest…" Felicity started.

"That doesn't sound promising." Roy said huffing.

"It's not. Listen, I live with three other girls."

"Are they hot?"

"Stop."

Roy rolled his eyes and waved her on to continue talking.

"One of their sister's are here."

"Obviously it's Sibling Weekend."

"They're kinda on the outs." She said uncomfortably.

Roy smirked, "kinda? Is this that Laurel girl who you lived with last year?"

"Yeah."

"The one with the hot blonde sister?"

"Sara's my age!"

"So?"

"So she's off limits! You're 16! And she's Laurel's sister and very much into Oliver."

"Who's Oliver?"

Felicity cringed inwardly mentally cursing herself for bringing him up to Roy. She had told herself that she wouldn't mention Oliver in front of Roy, especially after the Matthew Leland Incident.

"Just a guy."

"What kind of guy?"

"A guy…guy. He's not a big deal." She said trying to shrug it off.

Roy smirked widely at her. "Not a big deal…then why is this Sara into him? And why is Sara off limits?"

She sighed heavily and looked around the mostly empty campus. "Oliver and Laurel dated. Oliver cheated on her with her sister. Laurel caught them. It's tense to say the least. I mean, like really tense. Like North and South Korea tense. Well maybe not exactly, I shouldn't be comparing a really serious war to a feud between sisters, that kinda puts all this nonsense in perspective. Anyway, it's tense. Like sister slept with my boyfriend tense, which I guess is what happened." Felicity rambled.

Roy laughed and turned to continue walking toward the dorms. "Sounds stupid. Do you have any ramen? I'm starved."

"Yeah…we do." Felicity said hurrying after him.

"I tell you this, just to forewarn you that there might be trouble…" she hedged.

Roy shrugged and reached the door of the dorms. "Listen, if I can deal with Vegas—"

"Felicity! Funny seeing you here." A familiar voice called interrupting them.

Felicity turned away from Roy and toward the voice, smiling widely when she saw Oliver Queen approach her with a pretty young girl following after him. She watched as the girl looked over at Roy and then at her with a cool look.

"How is it funny that we're seeing her? We _came_ to _see_ her." The girl said rolling her eyes and giving Oliver a sardonic look.

Felicity watched Oliver's cheeks darken and she bit her lip to stifle a laugh.

"Thea this is Felicity. Felicity this is Thea. My sister." Oliver said introducing them reluctantly a pinched look forming on his face.

"Hi, Thea." Felicity said smiling at the girl.

Thea smiled back and then looked over at her brother with raised eyebrows. Felicity followed her eyes and saw that Oliver was giving her an indescribable look, his eyes were soft and they took on that intense quality that always made her weak in the knees, his face was relaxed and he seemed to be somewhere else as he gazed at her.

"My brother wanted to ask you to dinner. Both of you, Felicity and Felicity's nameless…brother?" Thea said looking over at Roy curiously.

"Dinner. Right. I wanted to ask you to dinner. If that's okay. I mean, it would be all four of us," he said taking a second to wave between the four of them. "And it wasn't funny haha seeing Felicity here, but ironic funny, like I was coming to find you funny."

Felicity smiled shyly, "usually I'm the one rambling."

Oliver let out an embarrassed chuckle and Felicity turned to address Roy completely missing the blush that came over her friend's face.

"You want dinner instead of ramen?"

"Whatever." Roy said shrugging and glancing over at Thea who was still looking at him with interest.

"What's your name?" Thea asked suddenly.

Roy smirked and glanced over at Felicity who blushed. "I'm so sorry! Where are my manners? Apparently nonexistent at the current moment. This is Roy, my cousin."

"Your cousin?" Thea asked looking at her curiously.

"We were practically raised together. Even though Felicity is a few years older than me." Roy supplied taking a step forward.

"He's the closest person I have to a brother." She added looking over at Oliver.

"And this is…Oliver." Felicity added forgetting that she hadn't introduced him either.

"Oliver? As in… _The Oliver_?" Roy asked smirking at Felicity who's eyes widened in fear. Her mind flashed again to Matthew Leland.

She could already see the scene unfolding, much like what had happened with Matthew Leland.

It had been after school. She had, had this huge crush on Matthew for years and wanted to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins dance, but was too afraid. Roy had found her diary one afternoon when she had been making them something to eat. He had proceeded to ask Matthew Leland to the dance thinking he was helping her out. Needless to say it was disastrous.

And if Roy even caught wind that she had any feelings for Oliver whatsoever he would either intervene or take to threatening, which was his new thing apparently from what her mother said.

"The Oliver?" Oliver asked glancing over at Felicity curiously.

Thea's smirk widened, "are you talking about my brother, Lis?"

Roy chuckled and eyed Thea. "I'm only allowed to call her that."

"What do I have to do to be allowed to use the nickname too?" Thea teased.

Oliver frowned, "first of all, back off she's fourteen—"

"I'm sixteen." Roy said shrugging.

"Second, have you been talking about me, Felicity?" Oliver asked turning to the nervous looking blonde.

"Of course not!"

"Yes."

The two cousins looked at each other, Felicity sporting a bright red face and angry eyes, while Roy was smirking at her mirth filled eyes. She knew by one look that something was brewing in that brain of his, probably a bad idea.

"You're sixteen?" Thea asked breaking the silence.

"Just turned it a few weeks ago." Roy said proudly.

"Can you drive?"

"What did you say about me?" Oliver asked trying to ignore the conversation between the two younger people in their foursome.

Felicity blushed even deeper and avoided his eyes. "So…dinner?"

"Felicity?"

She huffed and glared over at Roy who was watching her with interest as was Thea.

"Just…about the stuff with Sara and Laurel."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I was forewarning him about…the fighting."

"Right."

"Yeah."

The silence stretched for a few seconds until Thea clapped her hands together.

"Dinner?"

"Yes!" They all chorused and headed toward the all night diner in the middle of campus. The one Felicity had turned Oliver onto, with the really good strawberry milkshakes with the chocolate drizzle.

Felicity already knew what she was going to have too.

She felt like an idiot for bringing up the Sara and Laurel stuff and she wanted to convey that to Oliver, but he was a few steps ahead walking with Thea.

She looked back toward Roy who was walking with her quietly.

"Don't make this into the Matthew Leland thing." She mumbled quickly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He replied innocently.

"Whatever. Just don't do Leland."

"Why would I do Leland? It's obvious you don't like him and he doesn't like you." Roy said woodenly.

"It's _obvious_?" she asked in surprise.

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "What's the deal with that Thea chick?"

"I met her at the same moment you did."

"What do you think her deal is?"

"She's a Queen."

"A Queen? Wouldn't she be a princess?"

"That's her last name, idiot." Felicity said shaking her head.

Roy opened his mouth to reply when Oliver and Thea turned around to face them. For a moment Felicity thought they were about to get reprimanded when instead Thea came to fall into step beside her.

"So how did you and Ollie meet?" she asked curiously.

"Macroeconomics."

"Sounds boring." Roy said.

"It's not." Felicity said looking over to Oliver to back her up.

He smiled slightly, "it is."

"What's your major?" Thea asked in the same curious tone.

"She's into computers." Roy said taking Felicity's arm and pulling her away so he could switch spots and be closer to Thea.

Felicity rolled her eyes and looked over at Oliver who wasn't quite glaring at Roy, but was pretty close.

"He's harmless." Felicity said making him look at her.

He raised an eyebrow in doubt. "Really? He's a sixteen year old boy."

"Believe me, he likes to think he's tough, but he's not. He's a softie at heart."

Oliver's face melted into a smile and knocked her shoulder gently. "So have you met Sara?"

Felicity shook her head not particularly wanting to talk about Oliver's ex…fling?

"She's awesome. You'll like her." He said.

"I'm sure." Felicity said turning away.

Silence fell on the two of them as the other two chatted merrily beside them.

"When did you pick up Thea? I thought she wasn't coming in until Friday morning."

"A little while ago. My parents changed her flight to tonight. I told them that was when all my friends' siblings were showing up."

Felicity nodded and they continued their way to the diner in silence. Once they arrived the four of them grabbed a booth and the waitress came over with menus.

"Felicity got me hooked on this place." Oliver said barely glancing down at the menu.

"I bet she did." Roy muttered earning a kick under the table from Felicity.

He grimaced and she smirked across the table at him.

"So you guys met in Macroeconomics? Did he beg you to help you pass? Or ask you to do his homework?" Thea joked.

Felicity smiled fondly and glanced over at him.

"No…he didn't beg. He…pleaded. I felt bad. Plus I helped Tommy last year in Micro, so I figured I'd extend my services…strictly platonic services that is." She said flushing.

Thea smirked in glee at her. She opened her mouth to further the discussion, buy Roy cut her off.

"You knew Laurel too, Lis." He said looking at Oliver and then Thea.

"Oh, you know Laurel?" Thea said visibly deflating.

"She's my roommate."

"Lucky you." Thea said scoffing.

Felicity looked back and forth between the Queen siblings with interest.

"Do you not…like her?" she asked boldly.

Thea shrugged and looked over at Oliver who was shifting uncomfortably beside Felicity. She tried not to focus too much on how often his knee brushed against her own.

"I…like her. I just don't think she brings out Ollie's best qualities, you know? Like she's very serious and Ollie is so very…not. I mean, spending so much time with him you must've noticed he isn't Mister Perfect, like Laurel." Thea rationalized.

Felicity turned slightly and met Oliver's eyes. He was watching her intently and she felt the familiar swooping of her stomach every time he gave her that smoldering look.

"I don't know, he is kinda perfect." She muttered before she could catch herself.

Her cheeks brightened and she looked back across the table at the two smirks on Thea and Roy's face. Specifically Thea's. Roy just looked smug. Too smug. She had a sudden flashback to Matthew Leland and hoped Roy wouldn't do anything to 'help' her.

"I mean, like _perfect_ …ish. Like I could see what Laurel saw in him. Not like physically. I mean, of course physically, but mentally too…not like I consider dating him – you. I just…understand the attraction. Uh – not like I'm attracted to you either. You're attractive just not…my type. Or something. I'm going to stop." She rambled wishing she could slither under the table and pretend she hadn't said anything.

Thea's smirk had turned to a wide grin.

Roy looked amused.

And Oliver had that content smirk on his face that she had noticed begin to appear when she rambled.

"So! Milkshakes?" she said jabbing her menu with her pointer finger.

"So you think my brother's hot?" Thea asked disregarding the menu.

Felicity felt her cheeks flame up the brightest yet and refused to meet Oliver's eyes. Or really anyone's for that matter.

Because this was a very inappropriate conversation to be having with her platonic friend's sister. Or with her cousin present.

"He isn't bad to look at. But…that doesn't matter. We're just friends. Platonic friends. Nothing more." Felicity said firmly still avoiding Oliver's eyes.

Thea opened her mouth to ask something else when she let out a muttered 'ow' and glared at Oliver.

"So…Thea likes to talk. A lot. Ignore her. Tell me about Felicity growing up?" Oliver asked looking over at Roy who leaned back into the booth with disinterest.

"She was a genius. Like she is now. Our mothers would always compare us though. Lis's mom would always want her to go out more, like me. Have friends and stuff. While my mom wants me to go to college, like Lis. We used to joke that we got the wrong mothers." Roy said looking over at Felicity who was watching him.

"It wasn't that bad. Roy's just pissy cause his mom sends him here every year to encourage him to go to college if he just pushed himself harder."

"I'm not going to college." Roy protested.

"Why not?" Thea asked sipping at the water the waitress had set on the table for them.

Roy shrugged and gave her what Felicity had patented his Bad Boy Look.

"Not for me." He said casually.

Thea nodded slowly taking in his answer. "So what are you going to do?"

"Whatever I want. I live in Vegas, baby. Anything is possible in the City Of Sin." He said flirtatiously.

Felicity snorted and looked over at Oliver who was most definitely glaring at Roy now.

"You live in Las Vegas?" Thea asked with interest.

"It's where Lis and I grew up. We grew up near the strip. It was okay. Both our mothers are—"

"And Roy will end up doing something meaningful with his life. Thea, are you going to college?" Felicity said swiftly.

Both Queen siblings looked back and forth between Roy and Felicity curiously.

"Well, I guess. I haven't decided on anything yet. But I've always wanted to do something in fashion. When I was younger I wanted to be just like Lindy my personal shopper, but—"

"You have a personal shopper?" Roy asked incredulously.

Thea looked momentarily self-conscious and then nodded emphatically, "So what?"

Roy put his hands up in surrender, but chose not to say anything, which Felicity was very thankful for.

"So Felicity, what do you want to do when you're finished with school? I mean, you have a ways to go but—" Thea began.

"Not that much time actually. I'll be done after the end of next year." Felicity said feeling proud and nervous at the prospect of graduating.

"But I'm thinking of staying and doing Grad School. I was considering MIT though for Grad School just because of their pro—"

"That's insane! I thought you were Ollie's age!" Thea exclaimed in amazement.

Felicity glanced over at Oliver who was staring at her with the same awed expression.

"You're almost done?" Oliver asked quietly.

"Well, yeah. I'm a junior. Didn't you know that?"

"Why are you taking Intro to Macroeconomics then?"

"Because I thought it would be fun. And helpful. Mostly fun though. I liked Micro so I figured I'd take Macro. Besides I've finished most of my major requirements and wanted something unrelated." She said logically.

Thea and Oliver stared at her in astonishment neither knowing what to say. Roy laughed loudly and shook his head.

"Same old Felicity," He muttered. "In high school she took every math class available because she said they were _fun_."

"Math _is_ fun." Felicity protested.

"Can you do my math homework then? It's Algebra and I don't get any of it." Thea asked.

Felicity smiled, "you sound like you're brother. I can help, but I won't do it."

"I don't sound like that! I do my own work."

"But you have asked me to do your homework."

"That was one time! And I was tired." Oliver said indignantly.

Felicity laughed, "whatever helps you sleep at night."

"So how old are you? You definitely don't look 21." Thea asked curiously.

Felicity hesitated for a brief moment and Roy looked at her with raised eyebrows. "19."

"You're only 19?" Oliver asked in admiration.

She blushed again and nodded. "Yeah. I'm supposed to be a genius so I graduated early…and well here I am."

"That's pretty cool. Maybe some of your smarts will rub off onto Ollie. He tends not to make the brightest decisions." Thea teased making him scowl at her.

Oliver opened his mouth to say something when the waitress came over and asked them if they were ready to order.

Since Felicity and Oliver had basically already memorized the menu they told the waitress their order, but Roy took a little longer and Thea took the longest because she needed to go over every item. Finally the orders were placed and the four went back to their conversation.

"I can't believe you're 19. I feel like I don't know you at all." Oliver grumbled.

Felicity gave him a sheepish look. "You never asked."

"What else do I not know about you?" he asked now turned fully to her.

She blushed slightly at having all of his attention on her, but she tried not to let that get to her.

"Not much. I'm pretty much an open book." She said shrugging.

"Ha! Oliver, don't let her fool you! Felicity used to be Goth and if I decide I like you I'll share the pictures with you." Roy commented smugly.

Felicity gasped and looked at him irritation. "Roy!"

Thea laughed loudly, "wow, Ollie. The Frat Boy and The Goth. Could you get any further from you usual type? It's kinda refreshing you know…opposites _do_ attract."

Oliver opened his mouth to respond, but Felicity quickly cut in.

"No attraction of opposites! We're just friends. Really. Platonic friends." Felicity said adamantly.

Thea smirked and nodded slowly. "Sure. Right. Friends."

Both Oliver and Felicity missed the knowing look Roy and Thea exchanged.

Once dinner was over Oliver and Thea walked Felicity and Roy back to the dorms.

"We'll probably see you tomorrow." Thea called out as they walked away.

Felicity noticed that her eyes stayed on Roy and she made a mental note to ask Roy what was going on there. She had seen their flirtations and she knew Oliver had as well. He's pointedly glared at Roy numerous times throughout dinner. She also listened to him make some not so subtle threats.

Dinner had been so fun that she had forgotten about the warzone she and Roy would be walking into. They walked down the hallway and came to a stop right as the door opened. Nyssa stepped through the threshold and nearly smacked into Felicity.

"Sorry. I had to get out of there. Miss Priss is on the warpath. I guess her sister…Sara? Said some things that got her panties in a bunch and now she's gone on some crazed bender." Nyssa said shaking her head in frustration.

"What kind of bender?" Felicity asked nervously.

Nyssa raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "The kind that involves alcohol and attempting to clean. Her sister left awhile ago claiming to go on some walk, but if I was her I'd probably stay away. Far away. Maybe sleep at that guy's place…Laurel's ex."

Felicity felt the familiar churning of jealousy in her stomach at the mention of Oliver and Sara together or Oliver and Laurel or really Oliver and anyone that wasn't her.

She was aware she was being petty. But thank God no one could read her mind.

"You think she will sleep there?"

Nyssa shrugged, "I don't really care. I'm leaving ground zero though. I was annoyed with Laurel before when she was going on her rants about her ex, now that she's _drunk_ and _ranting_ it's really annoying. She needs to get over it."

"It was her sister."

"So? My dad's an evil arse and you don't see me going on about it. She's self centered and someone needs to tell her to get over it." Nyssa gave her a pointed look.

"I'm not doing it." Felicity exclaimed and Roy laughed.

"Whatever. I'd do it, but I'm not her friend. Maybe that guy she's been seeing will talk some sense into her." Nyssa said indifferently.

"She's seeing someone?" Felicity asked feeling a combination of hurt that Laurel didn't tell her and curiosity to know whom it was.

"Yeah, but if it was serious wouldn't she be over everything between her ex and sister?"

Felicity shrugged her mind still on what Nyssa had said about Laurel seeing someone. "Who is it?"

Nyssa sighed, "do I look like her secretary? I don't know. All I know is that I saw her kissing some guy when I was coming home the other night. I didn't see who it was or anything. And I don't really care. I have to go. I'll see you later."

Felicity watched Nyssa leave wanting to know what else she knew. She was only snapped out of her pensive thoughts when Roy knocked the large backpack he'd been lugging around all night against her shoulder.

"I don't care if your roommate is crazy right now. I just want to go to sleep." Roy said.

Felicity nodded and opened the door leading him inside. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the living room was empty. She nodded to Roy to go to her room and just as she was about to head after him she heard Laurel's voice.

She ushered Roy ahead and silently moved toward Laurels' door to hear her talking on the phone.

"…just so angry. She always does this. And I know I shouldn't feel so hurt. But I am." Laurel slurred slightly. She paused and Felicity watched her take a sip of the vodka that had been sitting in the freezer. "It's not even about what happened this summer. It's about how she _is_ with me. I'm over what happened…for the most part. But she can be such a bitch! I mean, I know she's my sister and one day we'll look back on this and laugh, but – yes. Yes. I know. Sure. I wish you could come over…or maybe I could come over – oh. Thea's there? She'll definitely see me sneak in or you out. Okay. Right. Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Laurel said before hanging up.

Felicity moved away before she could see her and swiftly went into her bedroom wondering if Laurel had taken Oliver back after all. Despite what she had said maybe they decided to ride the Merry-Go-Round Of Hell again.

Did them getting back together have something to do with why neither of them had been around one another lately? Maybe they wanted to keep their relationship a secret after everything that had happened over the summer. Especially after everything Laurel had said. It would make her seem like a hypocrite…so maybe they were trying again in secret?

Felicity couldn't imagine them getting back together, but knowing what she did about their previous relationship it didn't seem farfetched. And it explained Laurel's current good mood.

Besides the only other person who would be around Thea would be Tommy. And why wouldn't Laurel mention she was seeing Tommy? Why hide a relationship with Tommy from her?

Felicity felt sick as she attempted to help Roy set up the blow up mattress, her thoughts swirled around the idea of Oliver and Laurel.

But as much as she tried to tell herself that it was inevitable that Oliver and Laurel would get back together it seriously didn't sooth the pain she was currently in at the thought of them as a couple again.

So yeah, she really needed to get this crush on Oliver Queen under control before some serious damage was inflicted. Especially because there was seriously no way a guy like Oliver could ever like her.


	5. The Climax Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who is reading the story! And thank you everyone who is commenting, & kudoing! I'm glad you're enjoying it! it's so much fun to write so I'm glad people are enjoying it. Next chapter is going to be a big Olicity chapter. And there's progress. Please let me know what you think!

_The lady doth protest too much, me thinks  
_

_Hamlet By William Shakespeare_

**Chapter 5 Climax Part Two**

"You must be Felicity! I recognize you from your picture."

Felicity blinked rapidly at the smirking blonde in the kitchen. She looked over at Roy who was munching away happily on a plate full of eggs and bacon beaming up at the other blonde.

"I am her – I mean me! I'm Felicity." Felicity stuttered.

Sara laughed and set a plate down beside Roy. "You're cute."

Felicity gave her a small smile, "thanks, I guess. I take it you're Sara?"

"I am. I hope you don't mind, I invaded your kitchen to make breakfast." Sara said waving at the messier than usual kitchen.

"It's no problem, especially when you present us with food." Felicity said looking down at the full plate and hesitating for a split second before taking a seat.

Sara joined her and the three of them tucked into their meals – well Sara and Felicity did since Roy was mostly finished.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Felicity said for lack of anything else to say besides the 'thanks' she'd said after the first bite of food.

"You too. I've heard a lot about you." Sara replied biting off a piece of bacon.

"All good things, I hope."

"Better things than you've heard about me, I'm sure." Sara said ruefully.

Felicity bit her lip and hid her eyes not wanting to give away anything by the expression on her face. She had been told she didn't really have the best poker face and she knew that if Sara caught her eye she'd probably babble out all of the bad things Laurel had said about her.

"It's okay, Felicity, I know my sister isn't happy with me right now." Sara said quietly making her look up.

Sara gave her a pained smile and then went back to her food as Felicity gazed at her with an uncertain expression. "I've had to deal with Laurel's anger for months now…sometimes I don't think she'll ever get over it."

Felicity and Roy exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"Eventually she could. I mean, it's a tough situation, but it can be fixed." Felicity said quietly.

"How?" Sara asked giving her an incredulous look.

Felicity opened her mouth and then closed it at a loss of what to say. "Maybe…Laurel just needs to see how much you really want her forgiveness. Maybe she just needs to see the situation in its entirety."

Sara frowned and took in that answer. "Do you think that would work?"

"I really don't know. I mean, Laurel's hurt and she is probably feeling pretty lost right now after what happened, even if it's been a few months. She's feeling vulnerable and isn't trusting as easily." Felicity rationalized.

"So what you're saying is that I should _show_ Laurel that I'm really sorry?"

"Maybe. It could work."

Sara nodded slowly and Felicity went back to eating her food with Roy stealing pieces of bacon from her plate.

"Okay, well…I think I'm going to find Oliver." Sara exclaimed standing up.

Felicity felt her stomach drop at the name and her head shot up starring at the other woman with wide eyes. "What? Why? What does Oliver have to do with any of this?" she exclaimed her tone lined with panic.

Felicity knew she sounded insane, but she really didn't care. What did Oliver have to do with any of this…apart from the obvious.

She was beginning to like Sara and all the jealous feelings she'd been feeling toward the other girl had been slowly going away.

With her declaration they all seemed to come whizzing back and hit her square in the gut making it difficult to breathe. She suddenly felt insecure and unsure of herself, two things she really didn't like.

Sara stared down at her for a moment a slow smile coming to her lips. "Everything. He has _everything_ to do with it. _I'm_ the reason they aren't together anymore, but maybe if I'm the reason they get _back_ together then maybe my sister will finally be my sister again. I just have to fix what I broke." Sara said logically.

Felicity opened her mouth and then closed it not knowing what to say. Before she could come up with something to deter Sara from finding him, she sauntered out of the apartment in search of the last person Felicity wanted her to talk to.

Felicity cursed internally at what she had just done, she stared down at her breakfast and abruptly didn't feel so hungry anymore. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but one thing she was sure of was that ugly monster they called jealously was swirling around in her belly and she knew this so-called crush she had on Oliver Queen wasn't going away any time soon. She was so screwed, that was another thing she knew. And she really didn't like it.

Not one bit.

Sighing heavily she pushed her breakfast toward Roy who was watching her carefully.

"Why didn't you tell her that, that was a bad idea? That _you_ like him."

"I _don't_ like him." She said quickly.

"Right. You're _friends_." Roy said rolling his eyes.

She scowled at him, "we are friends. That's it. And Sara probably won't even have to work very hard to get the two of them back together anyway. I think they already got back together."

"Who got back together?" Roy asked picking at her eggs and what was left of her bacon.

"Laurel and Oliver!" Felicity exclaimed in annoyance.

Wasn't he paying attention to the conversation?

She needed someone to vent to and since she couldn't talk to anyone else basically because of obvious reasons talking to Roy would have to suffice. If only he _actually_ listened though instead of eat her breakfast.

Roy scoffed and shook his head. "No way. He's totally into you. Anyone could see it. He was practically drooling all over you last night."

"Roy! He so wasn't! And besides when we were going to bed last night I heard Laurel talking to hi—"

"Listen, if Laurel was smart she wouldn't get back together with some guy who screwed her sister. And she could've been talking to anyone! Just because she was talking to someone on the phone—"

"She mentioned Thea! She said she wouldn't go over to see him because of Thea!" Felicity whispered hurriedly.

She knew how thin the walls were and the last thing she needed was for Laurel to come out of her room and ask them why they were talking about her.

"So? Doesn't Oliver live with someone else?"

"Yeah! Tommy!"

"Well maybe she's dating him."

"Why would she hide it, Roy? That doesn't make sense!" Felicity wailed in exasperation.

"And getting back together with her cheating scum of an ex does?" Roy pointed out.

Felicity bit her lip and debated his words. "I'm friends with both Laurel and Tommy, why wouldn't they tell me?"

Roy shrugged and then smirked, "maybe they are just _pretending_ to be _just_ friends."

"What?"

"Like another couple I know…Felicity and Oliver sitting in a tree K-I-S—"

"Shut it! Or I will murder you and they will never find a body." Felicity snapped loudly cutting him off.

Roy laughed and finished off her food before they left the apartment to start Sibling Weekend.

* * *

Oliver was walking around trying to get Thea to agree to one of the exhibits going on around campus. She kept bouncing from one to the other as she read the pamphlets and couldn't seem to make a decision. He was close to calling it a day and just taking Thea to Felicity's to hang out. Even though he didn't like the way that Roy was looking at his baby sister. He could deal with it as long as Felicity was there, although on the other hand Oliver had a feeling they were probably at one of the exhibits already.

Even though he had been crushing on her for longer than he'd admit to anyone he always was surprised to find that he wanted to spend more time alone with her. Granted, if he hung out with her and Roy with Thea they wouldn't technically be alone, but it would be as close to alone as they'd been in awhile – really since Wednesday night – and he missed her.

That was another thing he was surprised about, how easily he missed her when he would see her pretty frequently. He didn't understand any of it, but he knew that the more time he spent with her the more he didn't want to be apart from her. She was like a drug and he needed another fix. He knew it wasn't a good thing, especially with Tommy in the picture, but he couldn't help it. She was so addicting to be around. She made everything seem new and bright and beautiful. Just like her.

He pulled out his phone to text Felicity when he heard his name.

"Oliver! Thea!"

Oliver looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the subject on his mind.

"Hey, Felicity, Roy." Oliver said nodding at the younger man and trying to ignore the way he was staring at Thea.

"What are you guys doing here?" Thea asked smiling at both of them.

"Roy wanted to—" Felicity began, but was cut off by a male voice calling out to them.

"Felicity! Hey! Oliver!" Tommy greeted coming up to them with a wide grin.

Oliver swallowed the annoyance he felt at seeing his best friend crashing the time he could be spending with Felicity and then automatically felt guilty that he didn't want to see the guy he'd been friends with forever.

_Felicity is your friend. She's into Tommy. Tommy is your friend._

He repeated the mantra in his head, just like he'd been doing since he came to the realization that he liked Felicity more than just a friend. He wasn't sure what was happening between them, since neither or them seemed to be around one another very often. And neither of them had admitted to dating the other one, but he was sure something was going on. After all Tommy admitted he loved her and they slept together.

He wondered if maybe they were trying to keep their relationship secret for some reason, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.

Still, every time he wanted to make a move his mind kept replaying the scene when Tommy told him that he was in love with Felicity. Oliver wasn't going to ruin his best friend's relationship and all he wanted was for Felicity to be happy, even though he didn't think Tommy was good enough for her. So he repeated the mantra to remind himself that he wasn't going to screw their relationship up.

However, much he so desperately wanted to.

"Hey Tommy!" Thea said grinning at him.

Tommy looked around and his eyes landed on Roy who was regarding him with a cool look.

"This is my cousin, Roy." Felicity introduced watching Tommy closely.

"I remember from last year." Tommy said coldly.

Oliver looked between Roy and Tommy then at Felicity wondering what had happened last year. She looked uncomfortable at their glare off and then clapped her hands loudly.

"So! Let's go do something." She said vociferously.

"What happened last year?" Thea asked with interest.

"Nothing!"

"I told Tommy to back off from Felicity." Roy said ignoring Felicity.

Oliver cocked his head to the side and regarded them. Tommy looked smug and Felicity looked uncomfortable. He tried to ignore the jealous feeling roaring in his chest, but it was almost impossible since he wanted to do the same thing; warn Tommy away from Felicity.

Although he already knew he was too late, since they were probably together, or whatever they were to each other.

He still didn't get it.

If Felicity even liked him a inkling of how much he liked her he would've swooped in and taken her off the market.

He didn't really get what Tommy was doing.

"Why?" Thea asked.

"Because Roy likes to pretend he's tougher than he is. It's not a big deal. It was just a…one time thing." Felicity said quickly.

"What happened?" Oliver asked against his better judgment.

Felicity sighed and looked at Tommy with narrowed eyes. "Tommy…broke my trust last year. I was hurt. Roy stepped in to try to play the hero. End of story."

"You broke her trust?" Oliver asked his voice deeper and more demanding than he would've liked.

Four pairs of eyes looked at him curiously at the threatening tone he had taken on. He cleared his throat uncomfortably and rephrased the question again in a lighter voice.

"I—" Tommy began but was cut off by another person joining their little group.

"Hey Oliver!"

Oliver looked towards the familiar voice and felt his stomach drop in discomfort as Sara Lance walked toward him. He glanced over at Felicity to see her reaction, but found her whispering something to Tommy and the hot feeling in his stomach twisted itself causing a prickling throughout his body.

"Sara Lance." Thea greeted stepping forward a polite smile on her face.

"Speedy." Sara said smiling at the younger girl.

Oliver watched as his sister's face formed into annoyance.

"Please, don't call me that."

"Ollie calls you that." Sara pointed out.

"Ollie is my brother." Thea snapped causing a bubble of tension to surround the group.

Sara looked around at the other people in the small group greeting Tommy, Felicity, and Roy. Oliver noticed Tommy gave her an uncomfortable smile and he wondered briefly what that was about.

Then again he was wondering what a lot of the weird behavior going on lately was about.

He was beginning to think there was something in the water that made people act weird at Yale.

"So! What's on the agenda today?" Sara asked eagerly.

"We were just figuring out what exhibit to see." Oliver said when no one said anything.

"Cool. I was wondering if I could tag along with you guys? I tried to talk to Laurel last night but she's…not too happy with me. Still. I kind of left before she woke up this morning so I figured I'd hang out with you guys, if that's okay." Sara said looking around at them.

Oliver glared at his sister when he heard her snort at Sara's request and he plastered on a tight smile, despite the fact he really just wanted to hang out with his sister and Felicity – and he figured Roy too since that seemed inevitable.

"Yeah, sure. Maybe you can help us decide what to do." Oliver said.

"Great! I was thinking the Art History exhibit." Sara said holding up the pamphlet for it.

Thea sighed heavily, "that one sounds boring. Can't we do the Media one? I bet Felicity wants to do the Media one."

Oliver looked over at Felicity who blushed brightly. "No, no. That's fine. I'm fine with whatever one. Art history is fun too! I mean, if everyone else wants to do Art History. The Art History department is supposed to be really amazing anyway so that would be great. I don't know anything about Art History. What do you think, Roy?" Felicity rambled.

Roy smirked and shrugged putting his hands in his hoodie pockets. "They all sound boring, but I agree with Thea. Media would be cool."

"Of course you would agree with Thea." Oliver mumbled.

Tommy smiled mirthfully at him and then checked his phone as if he had somewhere to be.

"Right. Well have fun with that. I have…stuff I have to do." He said backing up slowly.

"Where are you going?" Felicity asked looking over at him with wide eyes.

Oliver frowned wondering where Tommy was going too and why Felicity suddenly looked so anxious about him leaving. Was he that bad to be around? Or could she seriously not be without him for, like an hour.

The familiar stirrings of jealous arose at that thought and he tried to not show his outward displeasure.

He should really ask what was going on between them, at least to make sure Tommy was treating her right.

The truth of the matter was that he hadn't asked before because he really didn't want to know. And even though he still didn't really want to know he needed to make sure that Felicity wasn't being used by his best friend. Even though Tommy claimed to _love_ her Oliver wouldn't believe it until he saw it.

"Just…stuff. I'll see you tonight. Let's have dinner." Tommy called out backing away quicker now.

They watched as he left and then Felicity sighed turning back to the group looking dejected.

"So…what have we decided?" Sara asked when no one made a move to go toward any exhibit.

"Media." Thea and Roy said in unison.

Felicity shrugged looking woebegone and Oliver was concentrating on trying to figure out where the previously bubbly Felicity had gone.

"Media it is." Sara decided.

They turned toward the building and Oliver noticed with disdain that Felicity seemed to have fallen into step with Thea and Roy while leaving him with Sara, which he didn't mind, but he didn't fully understand Felicity's sudden odd behavior.

She had been fine when they'd run into each other, but since Tommy left she seemed to be miserable.

He felt resentful of their relationship yet again and he wondered when they'd finally just admit they were a couple. It was seriously starting to grate on his nerves how close they were. But then again their closeness had aggravated him from the start.

He didn't realize he was staring at Felicity until Sara began to snap her fingers in front of his face to get his attention. When he finally turned to her she gave him an annoyed look as if she'd been talking and he hadn't been listening.

"What?" he asked after trying to recall what she'd been going on about.

She sighed and he looked back toward the three in front talking animatedly about some movie they wanted to see. He tried to hear what they were saying, but Sara began to talk to him again and their words were drowned out.

"…talk to Laurel." Sara finished and looked at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked again trying to keep his attention on Sara, but it seemed almost impossible when he heard Felicity's tinkling laugh or when her ponytail swung with extra vigor. His eyes kept traveling south as well to that deliciously peach shaped ass he so desperately wanted to sink his—

"Oliver, come on! This is serious! I really think we should talk about Laurel." Sara said in agitation.

He sighed and tried to turn his full attention to Sara. He wasn't being fair. He knew that. He really should listen to what she was saying. She seemed upset.

"What about Laurel?" he asked trying to keep his eyes away from Felicity.

"I think you should get back together with her." Sara said.

"What?!" he exclaimed almost laughing until he saw the desperate look on Sara's face.

"Why?" he asked shocked.

"Because! She won't talk to me! She won't forgive me! I really think that if you showed her how much you still cared about her then maybe you guys could talk…clear the air. I could promise never to sleep with you again and then voila! You're together again." Sara said making a huge ta-da gesture.

Oliver blinked trying to take in what she was saying. "So…you want me to get back together with Laurel?"

She shrugged and he watched as she looked over at Felicity who seemed to be telling some story that involved a lot of hand gestures.

"Well…no. I just want her to talk to me again. I don't get her, it's been months. I've apologized. You've apologized. It should be water under the bridge." Sara said sighing heavily and looking upset.

Oliver felt a pang of remorse rush through him at the damage he'd done between Sara and Laurel's relationship.

"Sara…I don't know if it's as easy as that. Even if I wanted to get back together with Laurel and she wanted to get back together with me we don't work together. I think we're done. Permanently." He said glancing over at Felicity to see whether she was paying attention.

"So you don't want to try again? Because I think you should. So does Felicity." Sara said watching him closely.

"What?" he asked surprised.

She nodded slowly watching him through inquisitive eyes. "Well, she didn't say that, exactly. She just said that if I wanted Laurels' forgiveness I'd have to show her that I understood what I did wrong. So I figure if I can get you and Laurel back together then it shows that I appreciate her in my life," Sara paused.

Oliver looked back at Felicity wondering what was going through her head. He felt bewildered about the advice Felicity had given Sara. Did Felicity want him to get back together with Laurel? When they had talked briefly about it she didn't seem like she was that gung-ho for the renewal of their relationship. Had he been reading Felicity all wrong? Was she spying on him for Laurel's benefit and then Laurel decided they should get back together because of…what? He was still the same guy, maybe he studied more thanks to Felicity, but for the most part he hadn't changed.

He was surprised to find that he really didn't want to get back together with Laurel. He had loved her, in his own way for years, but the thought of getting back together with her was not something he wanted to do again. He really was finished. For good. He'd been finished with Laurel, since…well since he started hanging out with Felicity.

"Unless you have your eye on someone else." Sara said slowly bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Someone else?" he asked realizing when he looked back at Sara that she'd caught him staring at Felicity.

"No." he said quickly shaking his head.

"It's okay if you do, Ollie. I made this mess, I should probably fix it." Sara said looking over at Felicity.

Oliver followed her eyes and he winced internally at the strategic look on her face.

"There's no one else." He said quickly.

Sara glanced at him and smirked, "are you sure? Because the nerdy blonde up there seems kinda cute."

"She's…Felicity. Just Felicity."

"And does _Just Felicity_ have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?" Sara asked wiggling her eyebrows.

Oliver scowled and looked away and towards the building they'd finally arrived at.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Maybe?" Sara inquired.

"Just drop it." He said sharply.

Sara put her hands up in surrender and they continued forward into the exhibit.

* * *

As the day progressed Oliver found himself growing more and more agitated. Sara seemed to be throwing him knowing looks. Felicity seemed to only talk to Thea and Roy and seemed to try to interact with him as little as possible. He tried not to stare too much at her, but by lunchtime he knew that he was drawing the attention of both Sara _and_ his sister, since they both kept catching him gazing at the bubbly blonde. He was so screwed, he was well aware.

Felicity was in some sort of hell, of that she was sure. The day had gone from bad to worse. It wasn't that she disliked Sara, she liked her fine, it was just that…she felt like the fifth wheel.

And maybe she disliked her a little on principle.

Although the breakfast she'd made was bomb and she seemed nice enough. Being the fifth wheel outweighed that though and so did all the other things, like Oliver and Laurel and maybe how pretty she was as well. The problem was that Sara was bringing out all of her insecurities and she really didn't appreciate it.

After Tommy left she knew that she was going to be the odd man out. That's why she wanted him to stay so badly. Now, she was doomed to either listen to Oliver and Sara flirt throughout the day or listen to Sara vie for her sister. Either option wasn't ideal.

It was made even weirder by the looks she was receiving from Sara, one's of curiosity as if she knew something Felicity didn't.

And to top it all of she wanted to rip her eyes and ears off because she had to listen to Thea and Roy flirt and make moon-eyes at one another.

So yeah, the day could've been definitely better.

As dinnertime approached though the worst moment had yet to occur. Dinner in the cafeteria with Tommy…and somehow he had gotten Laurel to come too.

Felicity almost didn't believe her eyes when she saw them at a table together, one looking somber and the other looking far too perky.

"Hey!" Tommy called out waving them over.

Felicity looked over at Sara and Oliver both of whom looked uneasy by the sudden change in plans.

"I saved you seats." Tommy said smiling at them.

"Tommy…" Felicity said glancing over to the other blonde and Oliver.

"I said we'd have dinner, right." He said gesturing across from him.

Felicity nodded slowly and set her tray down. She nodded for Roy to set his down too and glared when he looked far too gleeful at what was going to occur. Thea sat on Felicity's other side and they watched as Oliver hesitantly sat across from Laurel and Sara on Laurel's other side. The table lapsed into an uncomfortable tense silence.

"So…how did your _stuff_ go?" Felicity asked attempting to break the tense quiet.

"Fine." Tommy said clearing his throat and glancing at Laurel who seemed to be having a staring contest with her food.

"Good. That's good." Felicity said nodding slowly and looked at Roy who seemed to be eating quicker than usual.

"And Laurel—" Felicity began, but was cut off by Sara beginning to speak.

"Laurel, I'm really sorry. For the millionth time." Sara began and Felicity already knew this was about to get vicious.

"I know what I did was wrong, but I would really like to move past this situation," Sara continued boldly. "You can't hate me forever."

Felicity watched as Sara stared at her sister meaningfully and when it seemed like Laurel wasn't going to say anything she finally spoke up.

"You're right. I can't hate you forever. But I _can_ refuse to talk to you." Laurel simpered.

Sara stared at her for a moment and Felicity wondered whether she was going to break out in tears or scream at her. Instead she took a deep breath and plastered on a smile that looked more like a grimace. "If that's what you want."

"It is." Laurel said and then turned to Oliver who had been trying to look as innocent as possible. "This is your fault." She snipped before getting off the bench and stomping her way out of the cafeteria.

The table was silent as they all took in the quick exchange of words that had just taken place. When Felicity met Sara's eyes she noticed they glistened with tears and she felt empathy for the other woman, despite the fact she was supposed to be Laurel's friend.

"I'll just go talk to her." Tommy mumbled before leaving the table.

Felicity frowned momentarily wondering if she should be the one to go talk to her instead of Tommy, but before she could voice her concerns he was lightweight jogging after her.

"I'm not that hungry anymore." Sara said softly and taking her own leave.

Felicity opened her mouth to call her back when Oliver made a move to follow her.

"You know, maybe I should go talk to her. I gave her this stupid advice this morning." Felicity said quietly drawing his attention.

He hesitated looking down at Thea and Roy who were looking up at him with looks of disdain, Thea's more prominent.

"She might need an outside party to put things into perspective." Felicity added when he didn't seem to want to back down.

"Okay." He relented sitting back down.

She smiled encouragingly at him and stood up from her spot. "I'll be back soon and then maybe we can skip the night activity and go to a movie."

"What's supposed to be happening tonight?" Thea asked.

"A seminar on why going to college is a good thing." Felicity deadpanned.

Roy snorted and shook his head. "I'd go see any movie instead of doing that. Including that stupid rom-com one you made me see on Valentine's day that I slept through."

"No rom-com movies tonight. Maybe that Halloween one that just came out." Felicity suggested slowly moving away from the table.

She heard Roy say something, but she couldn't make out the words. Instead she continued forward and ended up outside the cafeteria where Sara seemed to be taking refuge.

She was sitting on the bench clenching her coat to her and looked at the brightly changing leaves with a forlorn expression. Felicity walked loudly up to her to give her the chance to tell her to go away, but when she didn't she slid onto the bench next to her feeling grateful.

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Felicity spoke her voice soothing. "I'm sorry about that."

Sara shrugged and Felicity got the distinct impression that she was attempting to shrug the whole thing off. "I tried to talk to Oliver about talking to her and getting back together, but he wasn't so into the idea."

Felicity couldn't keep the surprise from her tone. "He wasn't? Seriously? I thought—" she cut herself off with a shake of her head.

Sara turned to her with raised eyebrows. "You thought what?"

"Just that…maybe he'd already gotten back together with her." Felicity said almost shyly.

Sara smiled slightly and moved down the bench to get more comfortable. "What gives you that idea?"

"Laurel was on the phone last night…she mentioned feeling uncomfortable about going over to Oliver's because of Thea." Felicity said sheepishly.

Sara nodded slowly. "And you thought it was Oliver?"

"Well I mean who else would it be?"

Sara raised her eyebrows and gave her a pointed look.

"Tommy?" Felicity asked surprised.

"Maybe."

"No way! Why would they keep it a secret?"

"Because maybe Laurel doesn't want to ruin Oliver and Tommy's friendship as much as Oliver ruined Laurel and mine's relationship? Or maybe because Tommy isn't sure how to tell Oliver. I'm sure they have their reasons." Sara rationalized.

Felicity let that sink in and then she blushed realizing she wasn't doing what she had come out here to do.

"I'm sorry. I came out here to make you feel better not to realize that what they say about assuming is totally right. I totally made an ass out of myself." Felicity said wincing internally.

Sara smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand. "It's okay. And it's really Oliver and mine's fault that all of this stuff happened. If we hadn't been so…but it is what it is. If Laurel can't get over it that's not my problem, even though I've apologized many times."

Felicity nodded, "There's nothing you can do if the other person won't listen to you. If it makes you feel any better though, you can spend the rest of the weekend with us. We were planning on going to see a movie tonight. If you wanna come."

Sara grinned, "That sounds nice."

They got up and began to walk back toward the cafeteria.

"You know, Oliver isn't a bad guy." Sara said.

Felicity shot her a weird look, "yeah I know. We're friends."

"I mean…I think he's over Laurel too so if you want to be _more_ than friends I think he's really—"

"Wait! Hold the phone!" Felicity shrieked making a slashing motion and stopping in her tracks. "Oliver and I are _totally_ not happening. I mean we're _friends_. _Only_ friends. Why does everyone assume we're something more?"

Sara laughed good-naturedly at her. "Because of the way you guys are around each other! I've known Oliver for a long time and I've never seen him act the way he does around you with anyone else. Don't you like him?"

Felicity bit her lip and looked away. "Sara…Oliver and I…we're _unthinkable_. It's not going to happen. We're way too different. And even if I liked him we wouldn't work out. He's…Oliver Queen Rich Playboy Extraordinaire with a different girl on his arm every week. And I'm just Felicity. Plain Nerdy Felicity."

Sara opened her mouth, but Felicity shook her head sharply.

"Now, let's go figure out what horror film we're going to go see."

"Felicity—"

"Please, Sara, please just leave it alone."

Sara nodded once and then they made their way back to the cafeteria.

* * *

After leaving the cafeteria Laurel went back to her apartment so she could have the opportunity to be alone. It wasn't until she was struggling to open the lock on her door did she realize two things. One, she wasn't alone and two, she was crying.

"Laurel," Tommy began tentatively, but one annoyed look from her stopped him in his tracks.

"I don't want to talk about it." She said firmly.

He sighed and braced a hand against the doorframe.

"You can't keep avoiding this forever." He said softly.

She huffed in annoyance and attempted to jam the key into the lock once more.

"You need to forgive her." He soothed.

She scoffed and fix him with a look of pure anger. "Why? She betrayed—"

"She's your sister."

"Sisters are there for each other. They care about each other. Sara doesn't care—"

"Going out on a limb and apologizing really says the opposite, Laurel. She cares and she obviously wants to make it better. Why don't you see that? Why can't you give her a chance?" Tommy demanded to know.

"Because I'm scared okay!" Laurel shouted finally throwing her keys down in frustration.

"Scared?" he asked surprised.

"I'm scared she'll do it again! Or she'll hurt me again! Or betray me! We were so close, Tommy! I never would've thought she could hurt me in the way she did! What if she sleeps with someone else I lo—care about or…what if she takes you away from me?" Laurel whispered feeling the fight drain out of her.

Tommy stared at her for a moment before moving forward and embracing her tightly.

"That's not going to happen. Laurel, I love you and there's nothing that could change that. I've been in love with you for years, and now that I finally have you. I'm not letting go. No matter what," he muttered into her hair. He heard her choke back a sob and sink further into his arms. "Is that why you don't want to tell people we're a couple? You're afraid that I'm going to leave."

Laurel moved away slightly and looked into his eyes. She leaned forward to kiss him instead of answering. When they parted for air she was the first to speak.

"Among other reasons."

Tommy nodded slowly.

"Tommy, after everything with Ollie, I…I don't want you to feel hurt that I didn't say it back. I do care about you I just…" Laurel trailed off as she gnawed on her lip trying to figure out what to say.

Tommy waved his hands at her words. "I didn't tell you so you could respond. I told you because I want you to know I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded slowly the tears still evident in her eyes. They were quiet as they stared at each other in the hallway outside the apartment neither making a move to go in.

"Do you think I should talk to her?" she inquired breaking the silence.

Tommy gave her a smile and nodded. "I think she'd like that a lot."

Laurel shrugged nonchalantly and then bent down to retrieve her fallen keys to allow them inside.

She'd think about it, but what Sara had done still cut her deeply and she wasn't sure if she'd ever look at her sister the same again. But after hearing Tommy's declaration she knew that history wouldn't repeat itself and he was here for the long haul.

* * *

Oliver was getting ready for bed that night when Thea came into his room and plopped on the bed a pout present on her face.

"What's up Speedy?" he asked looking up from finishing a 'goodnight' text to Felicity.

"What are you doing?" Thea asked curiously.

"Texting. What does it look like?" Oliver joked lightly.

Thea tilted her head and regarded her older brother. "So when are you going to ask Felicity out?"

Oliver choked on the air he had just breathed in and starting coughing loudly at her question. He clutched at his chest and attempted to regain some breath after his sister's question.

"What?" he gasped.

"Felicity. When are you going to ask her out? I can tell you like her." Thea said bluntly.

Oliver opened his mouth to deny his attraction, but then thought better of it. This was Thea and Thea would not drop a subject until she had her way and her way in this case was to find out what was going on between him and Felicity.

Which sadly was nothing.

"So?" he asked finally.

Thea rolled her eyes and sat up from her slouched position on his bed.

"So…you like her and should ask her out. That's what normal people do."

"We're normal."

"Then ask her out."

Oliver cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I can't."

"Why not? You like her, she totally likes you. Why don't you stop pretending you're _only_ friends and ask her out?" Thea said pointedly.

"Because she's dating Tommy." He said begrudgingly.

Thea blinked once and then raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "You think she's dating Tommy?"

"I know she's dating Tommy."

"How? I haven't even seen them together all weekend."

"Because he told me he loves her and they slept together."

"Are you sure it's Felicity?" Thea said frowning at him.

"Who else could it be? Listen, I'm not going to get in between Felicity and Tommy? If he loves her then…"

"And what about you?" she asked curiously.

"What _about_ me?"

"You're just going to let her go without giving her the option to choose? Why don't you just lay it all out on the table?" Thea said logically.

Oliver let out a bark of laughter and looked at his sister in disbelief. "This isn't an episode of The OC or whatever. This is real life. I can't just tell Felicity 'hey I really like you even though you're dating my best friend.' It doesn't work that way. She's not going to leave Tommy for me."

"How do you know that? Because from what I've seen when you guys interact there's, like, electric chemistry there. You guys give each other these looks—"

"Thea, I'm not going to ruin Felicity's relationship with Tommy."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise and then put her hands up in a surrender motion. "Wow. You have matured."

Oliver frowned unsure how to take his sister's comment. "Why do you say that?"

"Because a year ago you wouldn't have cared, as long as you got what you wanted," Thea paused and got off the bed to walk towards her brother. "Listen, Oliver, I know you think Tommy and Felicity have something going on, but I think you should at least _tell_ Felicity how you feel. If she or he haven't told you that they are officially dating I'm not so sure they are. Just because someone's slept together doesn't mean they're _together_ -together. You of all people should know that."

Oliver stared down at his sister taking in her words. He felt a little embarrassed that he was being told advice from a fourteen year old, but she might have a point neither the less. She gave him a small smile and then kissed him on the cheek before moving toward the door. She paused right before she left and turned to face him.

"Also before you assume anything you should probably find out what really happened. You know what they say about assuming." Thea said winking at her brother before leaving.

Oliver watched her go wondering if maybe she was on to something. He hadn't exactly seen Tommy and Felicity together and neither of them had told him they were together, so maybe he could at least tell her how he felt. He'd never actually had to tell a girl how he felt though, not even Laurel. He and Laurel had just kind of mutually decided to date after making out a few times. There was no talk needed.

But now with Felicity he had to _talk_ about his feelings and see how she felt. He was in a whole new game and he really didn't know how he felt about that, except very nervous. Extremely nervous.

He tried not to think about it as he got into bed and attempted to sleep, but all he could think about was Felicity's disgusted face when he told her how he felt or the rejected feeling he knew he was going to have when she turned him down. He didn't want to admit that for the first time in his life he was afraid of a girl.

* * *

The weekend went by far too quickly for Felicity's liking. She's spent a majority of it with Sara – who she found she really liked – Roy, Thea, Oliver, and surprisingly Nyssa who they had ran into while at one of the morning exhibits.

Now that it was late Saturday night Oliver had declared that they needed to have an awesome party to celebrate the end of Sibling Weekend.

After Oliver spent more time than he had to trying to convince her to come to the party she found herself in the middle of a very loud extravaganza feeling completely out of her element.

She had never been a huger partier. She never really understood the appeal of getting so wasted you blacked out and acted like an idiot. She had spent far too much time watching drunk men in casinos to really have any desire to drink too much.

She had, had a pot brownie the first year she was at school at a Frat party, but that had ended in a trip to the hospital due to her nut allergy. So she tended to try to avoid parties, but Oliver wanted her to come so badly and both Thea and Roy had ganged up on her to get her to come too. So here she was sitting on a leather couch with a couple beside her making out like their lives depended on it.

She would've gone to find Roy, but he had sent her a pointed look when he went off after Thea and she seriously didn't want to know what they were up to. She'd go find some other people, but there weren't many people at the party who she knew. So instead of coming out of her shell and meeting new people she sat down on the couch and tentatively drank her room temperature beer pretending she was having a good time.

Honestly, she was really only there because Roy had begged and so did Oliver, which was kinda weird. She didn't think he'd really want to party with her, they weren't that kind of friends. They were more school friends, not party friends, which was probably why she was sitting feeling like an idiot for being here. She'd rather be at home curled up and—

"Felicity, why are you sitting over here all by yourself?" Sara asked plopping down beside her and giving her a pouty look.

"Having fun." Felicity said making a woohoo motion with her hands.

Sara raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes good heartedly. "Really? Because you're face says otherwise."

"I don't party much." She admitted reluctantly.

Sara shrugged and offered her a little smile. "It's not always fun, but Oliver's are the best, so as someone who really doesn't want to listen to Oliver whine all night about how you aren't having a good time I think you should perk up. For Oliver at least."

Felicity laughed nervously and shook her head. "I don't know why you think Oliver would care about whether or not I'm having fun. I haven't even seen him since I got here. He's probably hooking up with some girl."

Sara raised an eyebrow at her and Felicity ducked her head to hide the flush that was rapidly spreading across her face.

"Not that I care." Felicity added hastily.

Sara smirked, "sure."

Felicity frowned not liking Sara's tone.

"We're just friends."

"You know just because you say that doesn't make it true." Sara sang.

She let out a loud sigh and set her Red Solo cup on the table. "Listen, Sara—"

"No."

"No what?"

"No, I think it's time for _you_ to listen." Sara said setting her own drink down beside Felicity's and turning to her with a meaningful look in her eye.

Felicity shrank back unsure what to do with the look in Sara's eye or the fact that she was telling her that she needed to listen. What did she need to listen to? She wasn't the one mistaken about her relationship with Oliver, not that there was a relationship with Oliver. Her friendship with Oliver, was strictly platonic. No feelings involved except for the platonic ones of course.

_Yeah, right Felicity_

"Felicity, I haven't known you long, but I can see why everyone likes you so much. I'll admit that I was a bit jealous—"

" _You_ were _jealous_ of _me_?" Felicity asked incredulously.

Sara nodded sheepishly. "I was jealous of your friendship with Laurel. She talks to you, like we used to talk and now…well you know. Anyway, I like you and I'm going to give you some advice."

"But I didn't ask for any."

"Well I'm telling you anyway."

Felicity sighed and waited for Sara to go on, she seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

"I think you should go for Oliver." Sara said finally and Felicity felt her jaw drop open.

"What did you say?"

"You should go for it with Oliver. I know his track record isn't the best—"

"That's putting it mildly." Felicity mumbled.

"But he's a good guy and he likes you. Like I said the other day and I'll say it again because it's completely true; I've never seen him act around a girl the way he acts around you. I think you would really bring out his best qualities and really make him the best version of himself he can be. He's so…happy and different when he's with you," Sara paused ignoring Felicity shocked expression and continued forward. "And I think he'd be able to open your eyes to so many other opportunities. The way you guys look at each other…it's just so… _real_. You guys could be really great together if you just opened your eyes and gave each other a chance."

Felicity stared at her, opened her mouth to respond and then closed it not sure what to say.

"I know you're probably hesitating because of Laurel, but you should do what makes you happy, and I think Oliver could be your happiness." Sara said when Felicity didn't say anything.

Felicity nodded slowly unable to think of anything to say to that.

"What do you think?" Sara asked.

"I think…that maybe you've drank a little too much. Oliver doesn't like me. He's way out of my league and probably still in love with Laurel. Besides we're friends and well, honestly it's kinda weird that you're telling me all of this. I would've figured you'd…want to date Oliver or something." Felicity said apologetically.

Sara laughed and looked across the room distractedly. Felicity followed her gaze, but all she saw was a bunch of people in a group. She thought she made out Nyssa, but she wasn't sure.

"Trust me, I'm not really into Oliver anymore." Sara said quietly turning back to Felicity with a slight redness in her cheeks.

If Felicity didn't know any better she would've sworn that Sara was blushing.

"Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that you should give him a chance. I know he likes you. The way he looks at you is straight out of a rom-com."

Felicity laughed, "hopefully the good kind and not the bad."

"Definitely the good kind." Sara said encouragingly.

Felicity looked away and across the room to where Laurel and Tommy were talking quietly.

"I'll think about it." She said finally and Sara nodded happily.

"That's all I ask for."

Then Sara dragged her up and toward the bar so they could have another drink and Felicity allowed her too – because what the hell it was a party after all.

As they were pouring rum into their cokes there was a loud shriek and Thea and Roy came hurrying out of a room from down the hall followed by an angry, seething Oliver. Felicity stared at her cousin unsure what was going on, but when he hurried to her side and Oliver marched right up to them she knew it could only be one thing.

"Do you know what I just saw?" Oliver snarled.

Felicity glanced over at Roy and then Thea taking in their rumpled clothes and guilty expressions.

"Hopefully something PG." She mumbled trying not to laugh at the expression on Oliver's face or the lipstick on Roy's mouth.

"My _sister_ and your _cousin_! Kissing!" Oliver announced drawing the attention of most of the party.

"Ollie! Please, you're causing a scene." Thea mumbled looking rosy in the cheeks whether it was from making out with Roy or her brother's anger Felicity wasn't sure.

"Oliver…" Felicity said trailing off since she wasn't sure what to say. Should she have Roy apologize? Apologize herself? Or try to calm him down.

She decided to go with the latter, before she could open her mouth though Tommy stepped in and put an arm around her and Oliver.

"Hey, we're all friends here. Just because the kiddies are getting a little frisky doesn't mean we can't have a good time." Tommy placated.

Felicity glanced over at Oliver who only seemed to become even more enraged at Tommy's attempts to calm him down.

"Listen, I'm sorry for Roy's…indiscretions," Felicity turned to Roy who looked sulky and nudged him. "Roy."

He rolled him eyes and looked up at Oliver with a bored expression. "I'm sorry about what you saw with Thea. I'm sure it was uncomfortable."

"And?" Felicity nudged.

"And…" Roy shrugged looking at Felicity.

"It won't happen again." Felicity egged on.

Roy huffed and looked over at Thea who was glaring at her brother.

"I'm sorry, man, I like her. I won't apologize for admitting I like her. At least I'm man enough to tell her." Roy exclaimed causing Felicity to groan.

Felicity looked over at Oliver and instead of looking angrier he looked shocked and uncomfortable as if Roy had called him out on something, but really Felicity didn't understand what he could've said that resonated with the other man.

Thea smiled widely and made a move to walk toward Roy, but Oliver stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Please do not kiss him." He requested.

Thea rolled her eyes and reached out to hug Roy tightly.

Felicity watched with a smile on her face and looked over at Oliver who she found was staring at her with an intense unreadable expression as well. She ducked her head blushing and began to reconsider Sara's words from earlier. Maybe he did like her and maybe Sara was right.

She looked over to Sara to point it out, but found her talking quietly with Laurel in the corner. Her smile widened already knowing that at least some things were working out for the best.


	6. Reversal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone who is reading and commenting! And also kudoing and bookmarking! U guys are amazing! I'm so glad u like the story! The last chapter will be up sometime this weekend! I'm cross country driving right now so I will individually thank all the commenters when I'm not falling asleep over my computer! Thank you again!

_“Yet but three come one more._  
_Two of both kinds make up four._  
_Ere she comes curst and sad._  
_Cupid is a knavish lad._  
_Thus to make poor females mad.”_

_A Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare_

**Chapter 6 Reversal**

Today was going to be the day. Oliver was sure of it. He couldn't wait any longer. Thea's words have been swirling around in his head, since she had left last week. He was tired of pussy-footing around the issue. He had to man up and just tell Felicity how he felt.

_Just do it, Queen, tell her how you feel._

It was easier said then done though. Oliver had no idea what can of worms he was opening, if he did in fact lay it all out there.

Would he be ruining Felicity's chance at happiness with Tommy? Would he lose a really good friend? Would it make everything awkward between them if he told her how he felt? Did she even feel the same way that he did?

There were so many important questions that needed answering before he was ready to lay his feelings on the line, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer until he asked his questions.

It was a vicious circle.

He needed to just do it.

_Just ask. Tell her how you feel._

He stared at Felicity sitting beside him, as their Macro professor rambled on about…he wasn't exactly sure what. He hadn't been paying attention. Instead he was watching Felicity concentrate.

He knew that he had to tell her as soon as possible. He couldn't wait any longer.

He was imagining ways of telling her he had feelings for her, when she poked him hard in the arm.

"Oliver." She hissed.

He blinked coming out of his daydream where he had been proclaiming his undying devotion to Felicity as she heartily replied that she was in love with him too.

Wait – love? Did _he_ love _her_?

And since when did his daydreams include revealing his _feelings_? And not getting 100% naked and fucking.

What was wrong with him?

Was he in love?

He swallowed with difficulty as that thought struck him hard in the gut wondering if he really _did_ love her.

"Oliver, get up." She said again poking him hard and drawing his attention to her.

"What?" he asked confused and then looked around to find an empty room. Everyone was gone, beside the two of them.

"Are you okay? I've been trying to get your attention for almost five minutes." She said giving him a disgruntled look.

He nodded quickly trying to ignore the tightening of his stomach when her bright blue eyes met his.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." He said dismissively.

She gave him a suspicious look and then gently nudged him with her shoulder.

"Do you want to go get some food?" she asked.

He nodded his throat suddenly going dry at the idea of being alone with her. If they were alone then that would mean that he had to tell her how he felt. There were no excuses to make if they were alone together and he had the perfect opportunity to tell her his feelings.

"Yeah, sure. Food is good." He stuttered his stomach twisting at the prospect of finally telling her the truth about how he felt.

She quirked an eyebrow and then nodded slowly. "Are you sure you're okay? We can skip lunch, go back to your apartment and get in bed." She blushed brightly as the words seeped from her lips.

He smirked at the red on her cheeks and let his mind drift to them in bed together. She'd be on top. He'd really like to see her on top. The perfectly round breasts bouncing up and down as she rode him. He'd finally get to find out how soft her skin was and whether she talked as much in bed as she did out of it. He knew without a doubt that she would moan his name with such titillating pleasure that it would cause him to—

"I didn't mean it like that! Obviously. We couldn't be in bed _together_. I just mean, if you don't feel well, we could skip lunch. But not to have sex or anything. Not that I _don't_ want to have sex with you. Or I wouldn't mind having sex with you. But… Anyway! We are _not_ having sex. I'm not trying to say I want to have sex with you because that would be _unthinkable_. I mean, we're friends, right?" she rambled blushing so brightly he peeked at her V-neck shirt to see if the red went beyond just the skin he could see.

His first thought was of Felicity and him in bed together exploring each other's bodies. His second thought was how adamant Felicity was about them _not_ having sex.

Why was she so against the idea of them? Were they really unthinkable?

He didn't think so.

Felicity was beautiful and he'd be the luckiest man to be with her. She was smart, funny, charismatic, good-natured, warm, and sweet. She was so… _remarkable_.

He smiled slightly when he saw that the blush descended beyond just her beautiful face.

His momentary happiness was short lived as he let the darker thoughts of _why_ he and Felicity were unthinkable. Was it because of Tommy? Or was it something else? Did she not like him like that? Did she think they were too different?

"It's fine, Felicity." He said quietly finally standing up and moving toward the door.

She followed after him quickly muttering words he wasn't able to make out as they walked out of the classroom, but he was pretty sure he caught her berating herself.

"Let's go get tacos." He suggested not really wanting to be on campus if they were going to have a serious talk. He didn't want to be interrupted.

She nodded, "okay."

They began to walk toward the small Mexican restaurant off campus. Oliver was too nervous to say anything, instead concentrating on how he was going to tell her how he felt. He wasn't sure what was going through Felicity's mind, but it must be something important, since she wasn't babbling away like usual.

Instead she was extremely quiet and it unnerved him even more.

He may have tripped a few times on the way over earning him a few more strange looks from her.

"We're here." He announced unnecessarily.

She gave him an odd look and they made their way into the restaurant.

It was mostly deserted, since it was the middle of the day. The hostess led them to a booth and they both slid onto the vinyl seats. Neither of them looked at the menu since they had both been there so many times before.

"So…" Oliver began clasping his hands on the table and regarding Felicity with an anxious look.

"So…" she responded leaning into the booth.

"What's up?" he asked when neither of them made a move to start a conversation.

She smiled slightly, "I feel like I should be asking you that. You're the one who's been acting weird."

"I haven't been weird." He said affronted.

"You were spacey all class and you keep giving me these odd looks. What's going on Oliver?" she asked leaning forward in concern.

He shifted uncomfortably before her and began to sputter out some words. He wasn't sure what words they were, but he figured if he started talking maybe he'd get there. "Well. You see…it's kind of difficult to say. Not like difficult words, but like difficult to get out."

She raised an eyebrow in interest and leaned even closer. "What are you talking about?"

"Felicity…I don't know how to say this but…I know we are good friends. Great friends. You are one of my best friends, I mean, obviously beside Tommy I've known him, since birth. But you're a great friend. You're important to me." He rambled.

Her eyebrows rose even further and a soft smile settled on her lips. "I think you've been hanging out with me for too long. Apparently babbling is contagious."

He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and then took a deep breath needing to start again. This wasn't going the way he wanted it to go. As a matter of fact, he was royally fucking this up. He had no idea what he was doing and apparently it was _very_ obvious.

Before he could attempt to try again to explain his feelings to her the waiter came to take their order. He was only half paying attention – he was trying to form the perfect sentences in his mind to relay his feelings to her – to know what he ordered and when the waiter finally left Felicity turned her attention back to him. Her beautiful sapphire eyes settling on his face, waiting patiently for him to begin speaking.

And then all the words and beautiful sentences he'd thought of fell out of his head.

He was back to stuttering. "So…you're really important to me. I need you to know that before I tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

"What I need to tell you." He said stalling.

"Which is…"

"Which is that…Tommy and Laurel are here." He said frowning when he saw his best friend and his ex walk into the restaurant together. He watched them freeze when he made eye contact with them and then they tentatively walked over to them both looking guiltier than they really should for having lunch together.

He wondered if Tommy was worried that he'd think he was being a bad friend or something. Honestly he didn't care if Tommy spent time with Laurel, they were friends too.

"Tommy and Laurel?" Felicity asked looking away from him and over to the couple that was walking toward them.

"What a coinky-dink." Felicity said turning to them with a friendly smile.

Oliver internally groaned, but tried to put on a polite face as they came closer.

"What are you guys doing here?" Laurel asked looking between them with narrowed eyes.

"Lunching. What are you doing here?" Felicity asked looking between her and Tommy.

"Same." Tommy said glancing at Oliver who hoped that he didn't look as annoyed as he felt.

"Neat." Oliver said woodenly.

An awkward silence hung between them and then Felicity cleared her throat and looked at Oliver meaningfully.

"Do you want to join us? We could use some company." She invited.

"No, no. We don't want to interrupt whatever it is you guys are doing." Tommy said quickly.

"We were eating. Nothing secret about that." Felicity said chuckling.

Internally Oliver was yelling 'no,' outwardly the painful polite smile was becoming more strained. If he didn't tell Felicity how he felt now he knew he wouldn't be able to later. He was full on ready to go _now_ , but if Laurel and Tommy joined them he'd have to wait to tell her. He didn't want Tommy and Laurel to join them, but he wasn't sure what to say to get them to go away without being obvious.

"We kinda wanted to be alone." Oliver blurted out.

Three pairs of eyes looked at him with varying degrees of oddness. Laurel was the first to break the silence.

"Why? What's going on here?" Laurel asked looking between them.

"Nothing." Felicity said quickly giving Oliver a pointed look.

He rolled his eyes and slumped into his seat already knowing he'd lost this battle. He also had a feeling he looked like a petulant five year old.

"Yeah, is there something we should know about?" Tommy asked suspiciously

Oliver felt his stomach drop as the guilt seeped in and he felt all of the anticipation of telling Felicity how he felt ooze out of him. He couldn't ruin Tommy and Felicity's relationship. He wasn't going to resort back to the asshole that slept and used people until he got what he wanted. He couldn't hurt two of his favorite people. He was trying to prove he'd changed and now looking at his best friend he knew he couldn't go through with it. He couldn't hurt Tommy and he wouldn't hurt Felicity.

"Nothing at all." Oliver said tightly.

Tommy smiled and slid into the seat beside Felicity wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Oliver felt himself stiffen at Tommy's gesture and he clenched his fists from keeping from jumping over the table to remove Tommy's hands from her.

Laurel tentatively got into the booth beside Oliver and they lapsed into silence once more.

"So what are you two up to?" Laurel asked.

"Just having lunch, Laurel." Oliver said forcefully.

She nodded slowly and Oliver looked over at Felicity who was talking quietly to Tommy. Their heads were ducked together and they were laughing softly.

He felt the familiar stirrings of jealous and he really wished they hadn't been interrupted. But then again maybe it was for the best so he wouldn't do anything stupid.

He still wanted to know what was going on between them, or at least what had happened last year. All he knew was that Felicity and Tommy had slept together at the End Of the Dorm party last year, but what about what he'd learned from Roy? About Tommy breaking her trust? And what were Roy and Laurel alluding to Felicity being hurt by Tommy? He needed to know what happened, he was tired of not knowing, of being left out of the loop.

He looked over at Laurel to find her watching Tommy with an peculiar look on her face and he opened his mouth to ask her if she was okay when the waiter came to take Tommy and Laurel's order.

When the waiter left Felicity began to talk to Laurel about Sara and Nyssa who had apparently hooked up during Sibling Weekend and Laurel told Felicity about the latest weirdness their fourth roommate who's name Oliver forgotten had done.

Overall he had definitely failed in his mission of admitting his feelings for Felicity.

* * *

 

Felicity was coming home from a late night of studying at the library when she rounded a corner and came across a couple kissing. And they weren't just pecking delicately on the lips either, they were full on making out, practically eating each other's faces.

She hesitated at the mouth of the hallway wondering whether she should continue walking the way she was planning, but there really wasn't another way to get into her apartment, so she knew she had to suck it up and just go.

As she walked further down the hall and toward her apartment and the kissing couple she was reminded of many times in high school when the popular jock would be making out with the popular cheerleader against her locker. It was always difficult to ask them to move and now as she closed in on the couple she realized they were leaning against her apartment door. She opened her mouth to ask them to politely to move when the girl tilted her head and her face was revealed to Felicity as none other than—

"Laurel?" Felicity gasped staring at her roommate who unhinged herself from the guy with a popping sound.

She looked at the guy who was wrapped around Laurel and her eyes nearly fell out of her skull when she saw it was Tommy.

"Tommy?" she asked looking between them in bewilderment.

Laurel and Tommy exchanged nervous glances.

"I thought you were at the library." Laurel said eventually.

Felicity felt her jaw drop. " _That's_ what you have to say to me? Not, oh hey! I've been banging Tommy Merlyn for…how long?" Felicity paused to wave her arms around in shock. " _Why_ didn't you tell me, Laurel? And _you_! _You_ who complained for months that you were in love with Laurel and couldn't get up the courage to tell her! _You_ who could very well have told me instead of me trying to get you to remove your head from you ass?" Felicity exclaimed waving her arms widely and looking between the guilty couple.

"We were going to tell you." Laurel said quickly.

"When? When you were getting married?"

"Soon! We just…had to figure out a way to tell Ollie." She said and then narrowed her eyes.

"You knew Tommy had a crush on me?" Laurel asked and then turned to Tommy with raised eyebrows, "Why didn't you ever tell _me_?"

"Because you are in love with Oliver." Felicity said in exasperation.

Laurel sighed and looked over at Tommy who shrugged. "I'm not in love with Oliver. Not anymore anyway. Listen, let's take this inside and I'll explain it to you."

Felicity frowned and then sighed. "I just…can't believe this. I really can't believe this. Why didn't either of you tell me?"

"It's not that we _didn't_ want to." Tommy said quickly.

"We weren't sure how to tell Ollie." Laurel mumbled.

Felicity opened her mouth to respond, but then thought better of her response. "Right. Oliver."

"He's been acting weird. I don't know if he still loves Laurel and I…he's my best friend, Felicity, I can't lose him. He's been so distant these last few weeks and when I told him I loved Laurel he was just…so upset. I couldn't tell him we are together now too," Tommy nervously looked away and then back at the bubbly blonde. "Please don't tell him. I…I want him to hear it from me."

Felicity gnawed on her lip, "you need to tell him soon."

"I know, I know." Tommy said glancing over at Laurel.

Felicity looked between them a small smile dancing on her lips. "So tell me how this happened? I've been trying to get you guys together forever!"

"What?" Laurel asked surprised.

Felicity nodded energetically. "So, what happened?"

Laurel smiled and moved toward the door. "Let's go inside and I'll tell you how Tommy poured his heart out to me."

"After I got her into bed of course."

"Of course." Felicity joked.

The three moved inside the apartment and settled onto the couch. Laurel launched into the story and Felicity patiently listened. She was happy for her friends, but she couldn't help feel a little upset that they felt compelled to hide this from her. She understood their reasoning, but she was still distressed that they wouldn't tell her about them until she had to find out for herself. Especially the way she had found out too.

As she thought back to their encounters over the last few weeks she began to wonder how she had missed the obvious clues. Tommy running to console Laurel after the Sara incident. Laurel being so happy and going out with Tommy all the time. The weirdness they both seemed accustomed too and how they both disappeared together. She had no idea how she had missed all the signs, but then again her own head wasn't exactly in the game currently either. She had gotten an A- on a test recently because all she could think about was a way to tell Oliver how she felt.

As the night wore on the three of them hung out until Tommy had to leave to finish a paper.

Felicity was munching on a bowl of popcorn that she made when she decided to ask the one question that had been bothering her.

"Do you think Oliver still has feelings for you?"

It had been a constant question on her mind since she'd finally admitted that she liked Oliver more than a friend, at least to herself. Whenever anyone asked or gave her a look she always said they were friends. Platonic friends. Nothing more. They couldn't be anything more. It was unthinkable.

Laurel looked over at her in surprise and a hesitant look crossed her face. "Why do you ask?"

Felicity shrugged ducking her head. Sara's words coming back to haunt her as she thought about how Sara seemed to think Oliver was over Laurel, but she couldn't help wonder whether he really was. Especially after Tommy revealed that he was upset when he told Oliver he loved Laurel. Obviously if Oliver was feeling upset and hurt about Tommy sleeping with Laurel he'd be very upset about them dating.

So did Oliver still love Laurel?

Beside this was _Laurel_ for God's sake! She was gorgeous and smart! Felicity was just…smart. Very smart. But still. She knew she was attractive, but nowhere near Laurel's level.

"Felicity…do you have feelings for Ollie?" Laurel asked softly.

She bit her lip unsure what to say to that. She could say yes and make Laurel hate her or she could lie and say no. She seemed to be in a pickle. So instead of answering she shoveled a handful of popcorn in her mouth and tried to find something to say.

"Felicity, I still stand by what I said when you guys first started hanging out…but I've noticed he's…different. And you don't have to tell me whether you do or don't have feelings for him, but know that I support you and I'm here if you want to talk. And to answer your question I think that…Ollie is confused. He asked me about the End of the Dorm party and looked kind of lost and, like Tommy said, upset when I told him what happened between us. I don't know if he still has feelings for me, but I know that I'm happy with Tommy and Ollie and I are done." Laurel said quietly.

Felicity nodded taking in that information. "So if I were to…make a move on Oliver…"

"I'd tell you that you should be careful and know that…I'm only looking out for your best interest when I tell you that he's an asshole." Laurel said with a slight smile.

"But you can make your own decisions and I trust you." she added before Felicity could protest.

The two girls smiled at each other and then Laurel reached over to give her a hug.

"Please be careful. I've had my heart broken by him a few too many times and I don't want that for you. If he hurts you I will come after him. And make sure that this is _exactly_ what you want before you pursue him." Laurel cautioned.

Felicity nodded giving her a gentle smile. "I'll keep that in mind."

Laurel smiled and Felicity felt more prepared than she ever had to tell Oliver exactly how she felt. No more day dreams she was really going to do this. There were no more obstacles and the only way they could go from here was up.

Unless of course he didn't feel the same way about her, but she wasn't going to have those thoughts.

No sir, she was going to tell him exactly how she felt and she was going to tell him as soon as possible. Except maybe wait a little while until she figured out exactly what to say without damaging their relationship. So maybe a few more day dreams. Yeah, that sounded good.

* * *

 

"I know about Tommy." Oliver stated.

Felicity dropped her pen on her notebook and looked over at him with anxiety coloring her face.

"You do?"

Oliver nodded slowly and Felicity began to gnaw on her lip. Silence descended about their table.

"So what's going on with Tommy?" Oliver asked wanting to finally find out once and for all what was going between Felicity and Tommy. He needed to know, for his own sanity. But at the same time he wasn't completely sure if he wanted to finally find out. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face the fact that Felicity and Tommy were an _actual thing_.

Like a couple or whatever.

If he finally knew they were a couple he'd never have his chance with Felicity and he'd be a terrible friend for wishing they'd break up.

Or actually breaking them up.

They had this history between them, something had happened between them last year. They had slept together at the End of the Year Dorm party and Tommy had broken her trust.

What had he done to break her trust?

All he could think of was Tommy hurting her and he really didn't want to think about that. Thinking about Tommy hurting Felicity was something that got his blood boiling and he didn't want to think like that.

He also couldn't forget the rather large issue of the fact that Tommy thought he was _in love_ with Felicity.

That was problematic.

"What do you mean?" Felicity asked shifting uncomfortably.

Oliver took notice of the nervous tapping of her leg and wondered whether she was planning on never telling him about Tommy. Was that why she was so nervous?

"What's going on with Tommy?" He repeated.

Felicity gnawed her lip and then shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know…"

"Felicity."

She sighed heavily and put down the pen she'd been writing with. "I guess…I mean you were going to find out eventually."

"You were keeping it a secret? Why?"

Felicity shrugged, "I guess he wanted to. I don't understand his thinking process."

"He wanted to? What about what _you_ wanted?"

Felicity frowned, "what _about_ what I wanted? What do you mean? I don't really have a say in it."

"Why not? You're involved now, you have just as much of a say."

She blinked rapidly and Oliver decided to plow on. He felt angry on her behalf for not being able to speak her mind. Was Tommy controlling? Why didn't he want Felicity to say anything? Why was it a big secret?

Oliver froze wondering if they had figured out that he liked her and Tommy being the friend he was didn't want to say anything until he could break it to him himself.

"Is he happy?" Oliver asked quietly.

Felicity nodded slowly.

"Are you?"

Felicity nodded and gave him a brief smile. "And La—"

"Why wouldn't you tell me?"

Felicity looked even more nervous. "I think it should come from Tommy and it's really between you guys. When he tells you, though, try to act surprised. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Why would you be in trouble?"

Felicity gave him an incredulous look. "How did you even figure it out?"

Oliver sighed, "I asked. Is it serious?"

Felicity nodded, "yeah."

"How serious?"

"Pretty serious. I don't think Tommy would date if he wasn't serious. You know how he is." She said reluctantly.

"So it's…serious?"

"Yeah, Oliver, are you okay?"

Oliver shrugged dismissively feeling sick to his stomach. So it was serious. Thea had been wrong.

He realized as Felicity stared at him in concern that he'd never get to taste those beautiful colorful lips and he knew in that moment that he was in love with the girl across from him.

He'd never be able to tell her.

She was with Tommy and that was it.

He now knew what it felt like to have his heart broken.

It was like falling to the earth from a mountaintop, the impact on the ground knocking the air from you lungs and bashing you unconscious, back to reality.

He felt numb suddenly and he wondered briefly if he'd ever be happy again. His stomach was in knots and he wanted to demand to know _why_ _he_ wasn't enough for her to choose him? But then again he had never been able to tell her how he felt so maybe he deserved this.

Karma was a bitch.

It was awful and Oliver desperately wished that he could change her mind or at least have the courage to tell her how he felt or ask her to change her mind and stay away from Tommy.

But alas he couldn't get the words out and all he could do was perseverate on his missed chance and love her from afar.

Because now that he couldn't have her, he was finally able to admit it to himself.

He was in love with Felicity Smoak.

* * *

 

"Hey, what are you doing tomorrow night?" John asked as they finished studying one night a week later.

Felicity glanced over at John and Lyla and then at Oliver who was texting under the table.

Like he had been for the majority of the night. She was annoyed by it, but every time she went to ask him to stop he somehow sensed her irritation and ceased without being asked to.

She knew he knew that she was aggravated by it, especially because they had exchanged maybe a few words since he'd confronted her about the Tommy and Laurel relationship. She wasn't sure why he had suddenly become so standoffish, but she was growing tired of it.

"Nothing, probably watch a movie or something." She said.

"You should come out with us. There's a rave tomorrow night and we were going to go." Lyla invited.

"A rave?" she asked excitedly. "I love those!"

Oliver glanced up from his phone in surprise.

_That got your attention._

"What?" Felicity asked seeing his shocked look.

"You've gone to a rave?" he asked glancing over at Lyla and John who didn't look surprised at all. But then again she'd gone to multiple raves with them.

"I grew up in Vegas. We always had raves out in the desert. One year we even snuck into Electric Daisy Carnival. I wasn't exactly popular in school and I didn't have a lot of friends, but the ones I did have liked to push the limits. Nothing dangerous or anything, just little stuff. Sometimes, I think we were too smart for our own good. Like, some of the stuff we did was just…crazy. Goth Teens cruising the City of Sin. I don't know how we didn't get arrested. Anyway, they're fun. Are the DJs local?" Felicity rambled.

Lyla nodded, "yeah, but it seemed like fun. So do you wanna come?"

"Yeah, sure. Oliver do you wanna come?" Felicity asked not sure whether or not he would say yes. He had been acting weird since he'd asked her about Tommy and Laurel dating. She assumed that he still had feelings for Laurel, so she decided not to talk to him about her feelings for him. She figured it would be a lost cause. Oliver would never be over Laurel and that was something she had to deal with.

What bothered her the most about all of it though was the fact that he was being so odd to her when she'd done nothing wrong. And they were supposed to be friends. She could live with them not being a couple, but she really liked his friendship and didn't want to ruin that. Which may also be another reason she didn't reveal her true feelings. She didn't want to damage their friendship, even if it came at the cost of her own pain.

"Sure. Tomorrow night? Do you wanna ask Tommy?" Oliver asked avoiding her eyes.

Felicity frowned momentarily and then shrugged, "sure. I'll invite Laurel too."

Oliver nodded and looked back down at his phone, like he'd disappear if he wasn't staring down at it. Felicity exchanged a look with John and then finished packing up her things.

"I'll text you the address." Lyla said taking John's offered hand and leaving the library together. John tilted his head toward Oliver and Felicity nodded slightly to say she understood the message.

She knew she should confront Oliver about his odd behavior, but she had no idea how to start. She wasn't sure if he was just upset about Laurel and Tommy or if he was upset at her for not telling him anything in the first place. Regardless she should probably try talk to him.

"Oliver, is something wrong?" Felicity asked quietly.

He glanced away from his phone and over to her still doing the whole avoiding her eyes thing he'd taken to doing, since their conversation about Tommy and Laurel.

"Nope. I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow night." He said grabbing his notebook and dashing out of the library as quickly as possible. She was left standing there with a pit in her stomach and a question on her mind of what had gotten into Oliver Queen.

* * *

 

The next day went quickly and soon enough Felicity found herself getting ready to go to the rave with Laurel. They had invited Nyssa too, but she claimed to be allergic to raves.

Laurel had decided on skin-tight jeans, boots and a slinky top. She let her loose waves fall down her back and she went heavy on the make up making her eyes pop.

Felicity on the hand decided to go with a bright red crop top and a short black pleated skirt. She wore her old black lace up combat boots and forwent her usual glasses for contacts. She straightened her blonde hair, went heavy on the eye-liner, and decided on bright red lipstick.

They began to pre-game as they got ready and by the time they left the house to meet Oliver and Tommy they were already a few shots deep.

"Are you ready to party?" Laurel called out when she saw Oliver and Tommy in the Quad.

Felicity giggled at their identical surprised expressions when they saw Laurel and she tried not to concentrate too much on how Oliver seemed to avoid looking at her if possible even more.

What had she done that made him not want to talk to her? Or even look at her? She kept racking her brain to try and figure it out, but nothing was coming to mind. What had she done?

"I'm totally ready." Felicity answered when all Tommy did was stare at Laurel and Oliver down at his phone. Again.

"Let's do this." Laurel sang wrapping an arm around Felicity and they began to walk toward the warehouse where the rave was located.

The walk was only a few miles and with the alcohol Tommy and Oliver had in a flask they were more than prepared. As they neared the warehouse Tommy stopped them to take out a small baggie with some pills in it. Felicity recognized the ecstasy and briefly thought about taking one.

"You want to partake?" Tommy asked waving the baggie.

"I'll have one." Laurel said holding her hand out.

Felicity raised her eyebrow in surprise and then shook her head when Tommy turned to her.

"No thanks. I'm fine with alcohol." She said.

"Oliver?" Tommy asked.

Oliver shook his head to everyone's surprise. "No, thanks." He said shortly.

Tommy frowned and waved the baggie closer to his face. "Are you sure? It's good. Promise. Not like the last time." he said chuckling.

Oliver scowled and shook his head, "Not tonight."

Tommy's frown deepened and then he took two out and gave one to Laurel and took one for himself.

"Fine." he said tucking the bag into a pocket. Felicity looked back and forth wondering what exactly had just happened. Then again there could be a lot of reasons for the animosity between them.

They finished walking toward the warehouse and quickly descended into the mass group inside. They had to yell over the thumping bass, but it was quickly understood that Felicity and Laurel were getting drinks. Tommy handed them some money and they made their way toward the bar yelling their excitement to each other. They did a shot before making their way back to the boys with their drinks.

Felicity glanced at Oliver out of the corner of her eye and saw that he was still sullen. She sighed heavily knowing it was going to be a long night. She figured she might as well enjoy it despite Oliver's behavior.

Once she was finished with her drink she dragged Laurel out onto the dance floor with the other gyrating bodies and they began to dance to the thumping music.

Felicity let herself get lost in the bass music as it flowed through her body. She just wanted to let loose for one night. She needed this to relax.

Everything lately had wound her tighter and tighter and she felt like she was going to burst. It wasn't school, exactly, although she was nervous to graduate and get ready for the real world. It was Oliver. He was being so aloof that she could see the cracks appearing in their friendship. It was worrisome, but every time she tried to talk to him about it he seemed to disappear.

She needed another drink.

She didn't want to think about this.

She mimed to Laurel she was going for another drink and she wandered up to the bar. She sat there for a little longer than necessary taking a few shots and trying to forget her current predicament.

What it really came down to was that she liked an emotionally distant jackass who was still in love with his ex. She had been warned though so she shouldn't even feel that upset about it.

But that didn't mean she couldn't feel upset about it. Sighing heavily she moved away from the makeshift bar and wobbled into the crowd in search of Laurel or at least someone she'd recognize.

"Shit." She mumbled realizing she was much drunker than she thought.

Straightening her back she began to make her way back to where she thought she'd left Laurel. She waded her way through the crowd of sweaty bodies and finally came to someone she knew, although it wasn't the person she wanted.

"Oliver." She slurred.

He looked down at her with raised eyebrows and finished off the rest of his beer.

"Felicity." He greeted.

She pouted and swayed looking up at him. She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, or at least ask him why he'd been so distant, but instead she asked:

"Do you wanna dance?"

He looked away and over toward the bar. "I don't really dance." He said over the music.

She scowled and without saying another word she turned around and began to make her way toward the heart of the dancers. At least there she could let herself be free and wouldn't have to worry about men named Oliver Queen. She needed to forget for a little while. Just a few hours she needed to pretend she was someone else and that she was free of inhabitations.

* * *

 

It could've been hours later or just a few minutes when she felt someone's hands wrap around her waist and pull her close. She had been dancing with her eyes closed so she hadn't seen the person come up behind her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and glanced over her shoulder to find the one person she had been trying so hard to _not_ think about.

Of course, he'd be sending he mixed messages.

Typical Oliver.

  
"Oliver." She breathed leaning further into him.

He seemed to curve his body into her's and he pulled her tighter against him. So she could feel the hard ridges of his body press against the soft contours of her own.

"You look so _beautiful_. I couldn't help myself. I just…I had to touch you." He whispered in her ear letting his breath tickle her ear.

She shivered as his whisper caressed her ear and she melted into him.

He wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and their bodies seemed to ft like puzzle pieces as they danced together. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and shut her eyes letting their bodies flow to the beat. She moved one of her hands up and tangled it into his hair to keep him right against her and just as she grinded particularly hard against him he spun her around so their was only a mere inch away from one another.

She looked up into his eyes searching the brilliant blue and she let an easy smile grace her features as she moved to close the inch between them. Her lips brushed against his and then suddenly he was taking a large step back.

She scowled confused as to why he moved away.

Didn't he want to kiss her?"

"What's wrong? Oliver?" Felicity asked coming out of her daze. He wasn't looking at her though and instead he was watching something over her shoulder.

She glanced away from him and followed his gaze to see Tommy and Laurel dancing in a silly manner a few feet away. They were so wrapped up in each other Felicity doubted they had noticed anything else, much less them dancing.

"What's wrong?" Felciity asked.

"I'm sorry. This is wrong." He blurted out loudly trying to be heard over the music.

"Wrong? How? Oliver, what are you talking about?" Felciity demanded to know.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this." He said taking another step away from her.

"Why not? Oliver, talk to me!"

"Felicity, this was a mistake."

"Mistake?" she asked suddenly feeling a lot more sober.

"Tommy." Oliver said glancing over her shoulder again and looking at his friend.

"Right. Tommy and Laurel. " Felicity mumbled looking away from him. She took a deep breath and turned back to Oliver to confront him, but instead he was gone and she was left to try and figure out if he'd ever get over Laurel.

* * *

 

Instead of going back to dancing Felicity wandered over to the bar and ordered a few more shots. She was tired of being the good girl. She was tired of having her heart stepped on. She was just tired of all of it.

But most of all she was tired of Oliver Queen and his antics. So, she drank a few more shots and somehow she ended up at the makeshift seating area downing a beer and talking to some random people.

"…didn't even kiss me. I mean, what the fuck." She exclaimed waving her hands.

The girl she was talking to nodded absentmindedly and then pulled a pill out of her pocket to swallow.

Felicity sighed and looked around the rave wondering where Laurel was and then magically Laurel plopped down beside her looking haggard.

"Felicity? What are you doing?" Laurel slurred taking her hand and pouting.

"Sulking! You're right, Laurel! I take back every thing I said about Oliver." Felicity announced matching her drunken pout and looking at Laurel with big eyes.

"What happened? _Felicity_! You _need_ to tell me." Laurel demanded staring at her friend with big glassy eyes.

Felicity frowned trying to recall what had happened on the dance floor and then she snapped her fingers. "We almost kissed."

"What!"

"I _know_."

"And then?"

"And then he said we _couldn't_!"

" _Why_?"

Felicity sighed heavily and gave her a look. "You! He just said 'Tommy' but I know what _that_ means. _Tommy and Laurel._ "

"Felicity…" Laurel said sympathetically.

Felicity shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "Nope. Nope. Nope." And she finished her beer before standing on shaking legs and made her way back to the bar. Laurel watched her go looking forlorn.

* * *

 

Oliver was leaning against the wall feeling morose with John watching the crowd dance before him. He wasn't interested in dancing. He wasn't interested in being here.

What he was interested in was finding Felicity and finishing what he'd started. But he saw Tommy in the crowd and couldn't do that to his friend. He couldn't betray his friend's trust like that. And he was so close to tasting those bright beautiful lips.

So close.

But his conscious got in the way.

His fucking conscious.

There seemed to be a first time for everything.

That was why he couldn't be around her. There was too much temptation and now…now he knew he had to stay away.

So he found Lyla and John and decided to hang out with them. John didn't seem to be a dancer either so that really helped. They both hung out on the wall and drank from their matching beers as Lyla danced with some of her friends. He was content standing with John, thinking about how to stay away from Felicity.

He didn't feel the need to make small talk and it was nice hanging out with someone who didn't always need something from him. Plus, John seemed to find a majority of the things that went on around them just as ridiculous as he did.

If he'd been paying the slightest amount of attention instead of talking to John about sports he would've seen Laurel coming.

But since the last few days of his life had been abysmal he didn't expect tonight to be much better. So yeah, he really didn't see Laurel coming because if he had he would've ducked into the crowd.

She had a fierce look on her face and as she came to a halt in front of him Oliver knew without having to look twice that she meant business. And with a sinking in his stomach he knew that he was in for some lecture, no doubt from Laurel about staying away from Felicity because he was going to ruin her relationship with Tommy.

He really didn't need Laurel lecturing him either. He was already feeling guilty enough.

"Ollie! What the hell?" Laurel slurred and he knew automatically that this was going to be a long lecture. Probably with a lot of hand gestures and drunken slurs.

He glanced over at John and saw him shift uncomfortably beside him. He could tell that John was debating on leaving him to his argument with Laurel or stepping in and helping him out.

Oliver hoped for the latter.

"What?" he asked finally when he saw Laurel open her mouth to begin berating him.

"What did you do?" Laurel demanded.

Instead of answering Oliver lazily brought the beer to his lips to take a sip.

"Felicity was just _telling_ me about what you did to her! She's heart broken! I knew you were a jackass, but I didn't realize the extent of your behavior. She's really hurt right now and I expect _you_ to go fix this."

He swallowed with difficulty when he heard Laurel tell him that Felicity was hurt and upset. She was probably upset that he had almost ruined her relationship with Tommy.

"I didn't mean to hurt her…I just want her to be happy." He said letting the lazy mask drop and show the hurt he'd been carrying around for days now, ever since he realized Felicity and Tommy were serious.

Laurel frowned and took a step closer to him. "Then why did you do what you did? She told me the story! A guy who claims to want a girl to be happy doesn't do what you just did! Now, you know who is going to have to fix _your_ mess? Tommy and I! Like always!"

Oliver scowled and leaned further into the wall already feeling indignation well up within him. Where did Laurel get off telling him that she was always cleaning up his messes! He wasn't that much of a screw up.

"I care about Felicity, okay! I was just trying to do the right thing! She deserves the best and I'll be honest I don't think To—"

"You trying to do the right thing? Since when? You never do the right thing! How many times did you screw me over? How many times did you fuck up and Tommy had to bail you out? You are right about one thing though, Felicity does deserve better. She deserves the best because she is a great person and if you can't see that then you…you need to stay away from her." Laurel said and then she turned around and stalked away on her heel into the crowd.

Oliver watched her go feeling if possible even worse than he had before she'd confronted him. He was feeling torn.

He didn't want to listen to what Laurel had just said, but she was also correct. Felicity was a great person and he probably should stay away.

A path with her would only lead to trouble and as shown by his dating history he didn't have the best track record and he knew in the end he'd end up hurting Felicity. And he knew if he ever treated Felicity half as bad as the way he treated Laurel he'd never forgive himself.

So instead of thinking about what had just happened with Laurel, Oliver glanced over at John who had the good graces to look like he hadn't hurt any of it and he told him he was going to the bar.

The only way he could deal with this unhappy realization was drowning in more alcohol. But he knew that there was no getting lost in the bottom of a bottle, he'd already tried that and it proved impossible. He was in love with Felicity and there was no coming back from that.


	7. Denouement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and comment on the story as well as kudo and bookmark. I loved writing this and had so much fun! Not sure if I'll write another Olicity, but if I do check it out! I hope you like the end!

_"The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth"_

_Midsummer Night's Dream By William Shakespeare_

**Chapter 6 Denouement**

"What stick is shoved up your butt?" Felicity demanded a week after the rave. Macroeconomics had just let out and she had finally caught up to Oliver once the Professor had released them.

It was the first time all week.

It seemed to her that he was avoiding her, since the rave. At first she thought it was her imagination, but then she began to notice the way he had taken to _really_ going out of his way to _not_ interact with her. He had taken to sitting on the opposite side of the room, skipping study sessions, and ignoring her when she tried to talk to him.

And she was done being treated like she wasn't important.

They had gone from being study buddies, to good friends, to something possibly more, to _nothing_. Just nothing.

There were no more friendly waves in the hall, or casual stopovers at her apartment. There were no more texts checking in on her or surprise muffins and coffee waiting for her in class. It was like she had never known Oliver Queen.

She was suddenly not important enough.

And that really bothered her.

They had gone from being _so_ close to _nothing_. Was she not as important to him as she had thought? Did he not want to be around her anymore?

A part of her was worried that maybe he had finally gotten what he wanted, but she knew that, that wasn't the case.

 _He_ was the one to stop the kiss the other night. Not her.

She had no desire to stop him whatsoever – in fact if it had been up to her stopping wouldn't have been an option.

Besides, he looked as miserable as she felt.

There was something holding him back and she was determined to find out what.

It was the least he could do after the way he had been treating her. She didn't deserve the way he had been around her and she needed an explanation.

_Now._

"What?" Oliver asked confused.

"You! You've been acting so…distant. It's not like you. What's wrong? Did I…did I do something?" she asked tentatively.

She hated herself a little bit for sounding so unsure of herself. She wasn't one to be unsure of herself, she was clumsy and rambled, but she always knew what she wanted. And she knew herself. She had always believed that knowing herself was a top priority. If she didn't know herself she couldn't make sound decisions.

Facing Oliver, though she felt extremely unsure of herself and she didn't like that.

He blinked rapidly a look of uncertainty crossing his face.

"It's not you, Felicity."

"Then what is it? What's wrong? What did I do?" she inquired forcefully.

" _You_ didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why are you _not_ talking to me? Why have I become a wall you walk past? What's going on, Oliver?" Felicity snapped putting her hands on her hips and regarding him with narrowed angry eyes.

Oliver sighed heavily, opened his mouth, and then shut it before taking a step back.

"I gotta go." He responded quickly, turning around to begin walking away.

She stared after him in shock for a moment before calling down the hall to get his attention.

He ignored it and continued on, much to her chagrin.

_What the hell? What was his problem?_

Begrudgingly she admitted that everything she had been told by Laurel was correct. He wasn't anything more than a rich partying playboy.

She just wished Laurel had been wrong and he'd been just as amazing as Felicity knew he was.

She saw the good in him. She saw his potential, and she wished that he was able to see it too.

* * *

Halloween was upon them and Felicity was morose.

Morose was probably an understatement. She might be lightweight depressed. Ever since the Doomed Hallway Confrontation That Was An Epic Failure, Felicity had been residing in the doldrums.

Maybe, that was why she wasn't very excited about her costume this year. With the combination of Laurel and Tommy and their happiness, and Oliver's standoffish behavior she didn't feel much like getting dressed up and going out with them.

But it was inevitable.

There was a party at one of the Frat houses and Laurel and Tommy begged her to go. The only other thing she'd be doing would be sitting at home eating a bag of chocolate and getting sick once she'd overdosed on sugar. She couldn't subject her body to that.

Especially when she'd been doing that every night since the rave. Currently, her stomach kind of hated her.

The one thing that bothered her the most was the fact that they had _almost_ kissed. Their lips had _grazed_! There was a _moment_! An _actual_ real to goodness moment! It wasn't her imagination or any of her daydreams. The Moment had happened.

They had almost kissed! And it had been one of many things she'd been obsessing over since it had happened. They had almost kissed!

And he pulled away.

She had been rejected.

He had realized that he didn't like her and still had feelings for Laurel. It was basically her worst nightmare.

Now, the only thing she could do is try to get Oliver to talk to her. Which was about as easy as walking into Mordoor. He'd been so evasive she just needed to address this…silence between them.

It unnerved her.

She didn't like it.

Hated it in fact.

If she couldn't have a relationship with Oliver, she'd at least like her friend back.

"So…what are you?" Laurel asked tilting her head and taking in Felicity's outfit.

She looked down at herself and then back up at Laurel with a 'Are you Serious?' expression.

She wore a thick strapped red tank top, black leather pants, black boots, and she was holding a stake she'd gotten at Halloween Party Town a Halloween store in New Haven. Her blonde hair was down and curled slightly and she'd gone light on the makeup.

"I'm Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Who are you?" she asked putting her hands on her hips.

"Oh! Of course. I'm a Bond Girl. Tommy is James Bond." Laurel chirped.

Felicity turned away to keep from rolling her eyes. She was happy for her friends, she really was. But she didn't want to be around such a happy twosome when she was so dejected. She tried to be happy, she really did, but it was so difficult because of the circumstances.

She busied herself with staring at herself in the mirror and making sure each strand of hair was in place and her make up wasn't smudged. It was basically stalling, but she hoped Laurel was too happy and distracted to notice her fidgeting.

"So did Tommy tell Oliver?" she asked casually.

Laurel glanced over at her from fixing her dress. "Hm? Oh. Uh no."

"Don't you think you should?"

"Yeah, of course. We were going to do it after Halloween. We didn't want to ruin the holiday." Laurel muttered and Felicity detected some guilt there.

She wondered if her friends really ever had a plan to tell him. She had a distinct impression that they didn't. They would continue to keep their relationship a secret for as long as they could, for whatever reason.

"Of course." Felicity said dryly.

Felicity looked over at the brunette who was watching her carefully in the mirror. She sighed heavily already knowing the question that was about to leave Laurel's lips.

"Are you okay? You seem…kinda down."

"I'm fine." Felicity replied automatically.

"Is it Oliver?"

Felicity avoided her eyes and reluctantly nodded.

"It'll get easier." Laurel soothed.

She raised an incredulous eyebrow. _This_ was the woman that had told her on _multiple_ occasions that Oliver was basically Lucifer reincarnated.

Laurel sighed.

"Eventually. Listen don't think about it tonight. Tonight will be fun! We'll drink and dance with cute boys! Think of having fun! We are going to a Halloween party! Drinking! Fun! Yay!" Laurel clapped a little.

"Yeah. Right."

"Once Tommy gets here we'll go."

Felicity nodded distractedly. Her mind was a million miles away on the one guy that seemed to avoid acknowledging her existence. She shook her head and attempted to think about something else as Laurel chatted on happily about Tommy.

Eventually Tommy arrived at the apartment and the three of them made their way toward the Frat party.

Felicity listened to the couple chatter on as they walked through campus, but she didn't really pay attention. Her mind was too focused on Oliver and how she was going to make him listen to her. She had half a mind to ask Tommy to talk to Oliver for her, but she knew she needed to fight her own battles.

They arrived at the Frat Party and Felicity left the couple in search of something to drink. She didn't get far before she spotted Oliver talking to some tiny brunette. Their eyes met across the room, her insides turned to ice, and then immediately heated up.

A white-hot fire erupted in her stomach and she felt like her insides were on fire. She looked down at her black boots and concentrated on her breathing as she tried to remind herself that he wasn't interested. He had clearly shown her that at the rave when he'd rejected her. But she _really_ wasn't prepared to see him talking to some other girl. Especially when worse case scenarios began to drift through her mind.

Taking a deep breath she raised her head, tossed her blonde hair, like she'd seen her mother do a thousand times, and sauntered toward the kitchen directly passed him.

She tried to ignore the feel of his eyes on her, but she glanced over at the last minute to find him staring straight at her. She quickly turned away and disappeared into the kitchen.

* * *

Oliver was having the worst two weeks of his life. Every since the rave he had been actively avoiding Felicity.

And instead of it getting easier, it was actually getting harder and harder to not be around her.

Every time he saw her he just wanted to talk to her, ask about her day, see how she was doing. But he knew that if he began a conversation with her he'd never want to leave her side again.

He was unable to give Felicity up, even though she was with his friend and Tommy _loved_ her. He was unable to give up her friendship, even though he had been trying so hard, but the more he was away from her the more he wanted her.

He was a selfish man, he knew that.

He wasn't sure how he was supposed to maintain this avoidance when it was one of the hardest things he'd ever done. He wished he could just get over her so he could go back to not caring, but it was impossible.

He was between a rock and a hard place. Either he hung out with her and slipped up, whether it was by kissing her or admitting his feelings. Either way he'd fuck up Felicity and Tommy.

But if he continued staying away from her he'd continue to feel like a part of his soul was missing.

So naturally when he saw her at the Halloween party he felt the same magnetic pull to her he'd felt since they'd first started hanging out.

Tommy had told him he would be there around 10, and in typical fashion he was late. Of course, he would show up with Laurel and Felicity.

By that time some brunette had attached herself to his arm, much to his dismay.

Maybe it was his own imagination, though, when his eyes met Felicity's across the room and he saw something that looked like jealousy in those orbs. He figured he must be mistaken, especially since he couldn't understand why she would be upset if she had arrived with Tommy.

Oliver tried to shake off the weird encounter by concentrating on the girl in front of him, but he couldn't seem to focus.

His mind kept wandering back to Felicity and the look on her face. Had he imagined it? Was she genuinely upset that he was talking to another girl? How much had he fucked up their friendship?

He needed to find out.

Moving away from the brunette mid-sentence, Oliver slinked through the crowd to find the blonde.

He made his way into the kitchen, the same way he had seen her go and he found her leaning against the wall talking to a guy dressed in some kind of superhero outfit.

Oliver scoffed at the outfit and looked down at his own, which was not really a costume since he didn't dress up. He had decided to wear the same clothes he had worn to the Avengers showing with Felicity.

He felt the immediate reaction he always had when he saw Felicity talking with some other guy. The rage filled his stomach, the possessiveness made his chest throb, and his head became foggy. He moved to stalk over there, but he paused wondering if it was really his place to invade on Felicity while she flirted with some guy who definitely wasn't Tommy.

Oliver hesitated wondering if he should go over and talk to her, or just go about his business.

Wasn't this Tommy's issue? And where was his best friend anyway? Why was Felicity on her own?

After a long hesitation he decided that he might as well go back to talking to the brunette. Felicity was obviously doing her own thing and it wasn't his business. He had acted like a grade-A asshole and he wasn't going to encroach on her when he had made it clear he didn't want to interact with her. She could do whatever she wanted.

Swiftly before he could change his mind he turned away and began to make his way back through the house. Half-naked girls passed him, guys yelled to him to take a shot with them. He was already tired of the party and it wasn't even midnight. His mind was stuck on the scene in the kitchen. What would make Felicity flirt with some guy at a party when her supposed boyfriend was in another room?

Had he pegged Felicity all wrong? Was she just like all the other girls he knew?

But that couldn't be right. He _knew_ her. He knew things about her he'd never known about another girl. Like her favorite movie and _why_ it was her favorite movie along with the parts that were her favorite. He knew her favorite foods, TV shows, and even favorite bands. He knew how she liked her coffee and how sometimes she had a craving for fast food, even though she clamed she'd given it up.

He knew her.

So he knew that something must've happened to push her into some random Frat boy's arms.

Something wasn't adding up and he couldn't pinpoint it, although it seemed to be staring him right in the face. What was he missing?

Maybe they had gotten into a fight? Maybe paradise wasn't so perfect? Maybe Tommy had fucked up? Should he ask? Should he but in? Should he ask how she was doing?

He wasn't sure what to do.

As he reached the living room he began to weave in and out of dancers debating his next move when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.

Not even a few feet away were Tommy and Laurel wrapped around each other. Even more accurately their lips were attached.

Tommy and Laurel were kissing.

Oliver felt his jaw drop as he tried to process what he was seeing. What was going on?

_Tommy and Laurel? What about Felicity? How could they do that to her?_

Without knowing what he was doing he began to make his way toward the couple wrapped around each other.

As if he was in a dream he came up to them and without his consent his hands began to form a mind of their own. He reached up and tugged Tommy's shoulder to get his attention and when his best friend – since birth – turned around he raised his fist. It wasn't until he felt the throbbing pain in his hand did he realize he had actually punched his best friend in the face.

"What the fuck, man?" Tommy yelled angrily holding his nose.

Oliver blinked rapidly as he processed what he had just done and instead of apologizing for his actions he felt the justifiable anger for Felicity rise up within him.

How could Tommy cheat on Felicity? And how could Laurel be the one Tommy cheated on her with? How could Laurel call Felicity her friend when she was screwing her boyfriend? And how could both of his _best_ friends get on him and his behavior when they were just as bad?

"How could you do this?" Oliver demanded and Tommy's expression softened despite the blood coming out of his nose.

"Look, Oliver, we…we were going to tell you. We just didn't know the correct time. I'm sorry." Tommy said quietly.

Oliver frowned not fully registering his words and instead of asking about it, he poked a finger in Tommy's chest, his body still pulsating with the rage he felt on Felicity's behalf.

"How could you cheat on her? She's…she's amazing. I mean, I backed off because you said you loved her." Oliver snapped.

Tommy frowned and looked over at Laurel who also looked dumbstruck.

"Ollie, Tommy isn't cheating on me." Laurel said stepping into the conversation.

"He's cheating on Felicity with you." Oliver declared in a loud voice.

Laurel frowned and looked over at Tommy who looked just as confused.

"Ollie…what are you talking about?" Laurel asked confused.

"Tommy and Felicity. He said he loved her. They are dating and then I find you two making out. How could you hurt Felicity? Again!" Oliver demanded.

Tommy blinked rapidly and then looked around the room. Oliver followed his gaze taking in the fact that they were being watching by the entire party.

"Oliver, I'm not…Felicity and I aren't a thing." Tommy said quietly.

"What? But you told me you loved her. And you had sex at the End of the Dorm party." Oliver said impatiently.

Laurel glanced over at Tommy in bewilderment and then turned back to Oliver. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she saw something over his shoulder.

"I didn't sleep with Felicity at that party. I slept with Laurel." Tommy said hastily.

"Laurel?" Oliver asked scowling.

"Who slept with me?" A voice asked behind Oliver. He quickly turned at the familiar voice and saw Felicity behind him. She was wearing a puzzled expression, with her hands on her hips.

"Apparently you and I slept together." Tommy said smirking.

Felicity wrinkled her nose, "gross. Never. Who would think that?"

"I asked Laurel and Tommy. And they both said you guys hooked up." Oliver said feeling even more mystified about what was going on.

Slowly the anger had left his body and now he was completely confused about what was going on. Were Felicity and Tommy not a couple? Did he actually have a chance?

"I never said that! I thought you were talking about Tommy and I! I thought you were asking whether Tommy and I hooked up!" Laurel exclaimed.

Oliver shook his head, "why would I care about you and Tommy?"

"Why would you care about Tommy and _Felicity_?" Laurel countered.

Oliver opened his mouth to answer that and then closed his mouth unsure where to start.

"So you and Tommy are together?" Oliver clarified.

Laurel and Tommy exchanged a look then nodded in unison.

"Yeah."

"And Felicity, you and Tommy were never a thing?" he asked turning to Felicity.

"No. Never."

"Then what did he do to hurt you?" he asked still feeling baffled.

Felicity glanced over at Tommy and then sighed heavily, "He…cheated off of me. We became really good friends, and one day during a test he cheated off of me and I got into trouble. It was all fixed inevitably, but…it hurt since I thought Tommy only wanted to be my friend because of my brain. We stopped talking and then when Cooper and I broke up…well he was there so… But Tommy and I were never a thing. He's had a thing for Laurel for, like years. And well, I've never liked Tommy as anything more than a friend."

Laurel glared at Felicity when that left her mouth and she blushed apologetically.

"Years?" Oliver asked looking at Tommy.

Tommy bit his lip and looked over at Laurel. "Yeah well… I'm in love with Laurel. There I said it. Correctly. When I told you that I slept with someone at the End of the Dorm party I meant Laurel."

Oliver looked over at Laurel to find her staring at Tommy with adoration in her eyes.

He nodded slowly taking in their words and then looked over at Felicity who was staring at him curiously.

"Good. I'm happy for you guys." He said eventually.

Laurel nodded and the frowned. "Why were you so upset when you found out?"

"What?"

"When I answered your question about the End Of The Dorm party. Why did you get so upset? Who did you think we were talking about?"

Oliver stalled trying to come up with a lie, but then he looked over at Felicity who was watching the situation as attentively as everyone else. He knew then that he couldn't continue to lie. He needed to come clean. It was time to figure out what was going on. It was time to face the truth.

"Felicity. I thought you were talking about Felicity." He blurted out.

He heard a gasp and turned to look over at the blonde who looked astounded.

"You were that upset about Felicity? Is that why you've been so depressing? Is that why you were so moody? You have feelings for Felicity?" Laurel asked incredulously.

Oliver hesitated and then nodded. "Yeah."

The room filled up with silence and Oliver's eyes found Felicity's who looked unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry." He said taking a step toward Felicity needing to explain himself, "I've…I thought you were into Tommy. I thought you were already spoken for. If I…if I would have known the truth…well…I'm really sorry."

Felicity nodded slowly, "So that's why you've been such a jerk lately?"

Oliver smiled sheepishly, "Yes, I was upset so I chose to take the easy way out and avoid you. I know it was wrong and I need you to know that I acted like an idiot. I really am sorry. I tried to stay away from you for both of our benefits. I didn't want to ruin another relationship, especially when you and Tommy meant so much to me. I figured the best way to really be able to get over you was to stay away."

Felicity stared at him for a moment and when he tried to smile encouragingly at her she didn't return the gesture, instead she turned away and moved through the crowd until he lost sight of her.

He glanced over at Tommy and Laurel who looked confused and then without much thinking he ran after her.

* * *

Felicity fled the party feeling a mixture of emotions she couldn't even begin to sort out. She was happy that Oliver wasn't still in love with Laurel. But she was also upset about how he had treated her and how he expected that everything was okay now that he apologized and the truth had been revealed. How was she supposed to process Oliver having feelings for her anyway? He had liked her the whole time? Why had everything turned so complicated? Couldn't he have just come up to her and been obvious about his feelings for her? She had spent months agonizing over Oliver, just to realize that he had spent months wanting her.

She just needed time to process, hence why she fled.

She didn't get very far until she heard her name filter into the darkness of the night. She paused at the corner of the street and turned around to face Oliver.

"Oliver—" she began but was swiftly cut off by the feel of his lips on her's.

She froze for a moment unable to compute what was going on, but when she felt his warm tongue prod at the seam of her lips she seemed to jump back into motion. She parted her lips allowing his tongue to slip between her painted mouth. She became lost in the sensation of his warmth and the passion, the heat spread throughout her body as his talented tongue began to turn her into a puddle of goo. How she desperately wanted to crawl into the kiss and get lost in this feeling forever.

_Focus Felicity._

She ripped herself from his lips and took a step back staring up at him in awe.

"What the hell?" she asked waving her hands around to try to get her point across.

"I've wanted to do that for awhile." He admitted sheepishly.

"You can't just go around kissing girls, Oliver!" she said continuing to wave her hands around.

"You aren't just a girl, Felicity. You're…you're my Felicity." He said quietly.

She opened her mouth to respond to that, but she couldn't seem to think of anything reasonable to say. She wanted to tell him that she wasn't his anything, he had made that clear with his behavior from the last few days. On the other hand she was more than pleased to hear that she wasn't just another girl. She was _his girl._

"Oliver… what do you want from me?" she asked running a hand through her hair.

"I want you." he said simply.

"What about Laurel?"

"What _about_ Laurel? I don't love her. You…you're remarkable. I love being around you. I like everything about you. I want you."

"And what about the next time our communication is skewed? Are you going to ignore me again?" Felicity demanded to know.

Oliver took a step forward so he towered over her. "I'm sorry, Felicity. I thought you were with Tommy and I didn't want to get into the way of that. I was trying to be a decent guy."

"Oliver, you already _are_ a decent guy. I just wish you could see that." she said quietly.

There was a pause as they both took the words that had been said and the silence between them. There was still so much to say and to explain, but for just a moment Felicity wanted to reveal in the fact that Oliver actually wanted her.

"What happens now?" she asked quietly.

"I kiss you. And probably spend months graveling for these past few weeks behavior." He said sheepishly.

She smiled slightly, "it wasn't just you though that screwed up. I could've confronted you as well. I am sorry for not taking a chance."

Oliver grinned genuinely and took a step forward. He opened his mouth to respond to her admission when she surprised both of them by kissing him softly on the lips. When they broke apart her smile was wider as she looked up at the man who had caused her so much heartache.

"Don't think you are getting off easy." She warned.

"I wouldn't dare think that I would."

"And I think we need to work on communication."

Oliver laughed and pulled her closer, "I second that."

Felicity nodded resolutely and cuddled into his chest. "For now, though. I think we should take it slow."

"How slow?" he asked quickly.

She grinned to herself and ignored his question as a more important one floated across her mind.

Felicity looked up at him hesitantly, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Oliver nodded firmly, "More than anything. Since I saw you with that red pen in your mouth."

"And this isn't a sex thing? Or a dare?" she asked uncomfortably.

Oliver bent his head a little so he could stare straight into her eyes. "Felicity, there is no one else I want beside you and if I have to spend forever telling you and showing you that I will."

She ducked her head to hide her smile and when he kissed her forehead her smile widened.

"How about we go back to your apartment? I need a crash course in scary movies and chocolate." He said tightening his arm around her.

She glanced up at him with faux seriousness. "I can help with that. I've been told I'm a very good study buddy."

Instead of answering he leaned down to kiss her again. "I would greatly appreciate it." He responded as they began their journey back to her apartment.

She smiled in return and leaned into him as they walked.

_It was true; The Course of True Love never does run smooth._

**_The End_ **


End file.
